Paper Finger Puppets

Things You’ll Need

• Craft paper

• Scissors

• Glue

• Masking tape

• Googly eyes, pom-poms, yarn

• Crayons or markers

Procedure:

1. Use scissors to shape the puppets’ midsection from a 3-inch square of craft paper — perhaps a round potbelly for a pig or a rectangular body for an alligator.

2. For legs, roll and glue four 1 1/2-by-3-inch paper strips into cylinders. Make them wide enough to fit your child’s fingers, so she can walk the puppet around. Attach each leg to the midsection with a piece of masking tape, pressing one end inside the cylinder and the other onto the back of the body.

3. DOG, LION, BUG, or DEER: Draw a suitable head and ears on a piece of craft paper. Then cut out the shape and glue it onto the body. Glue on googly eyes and distinguishing details, such as a pom-pom nose, a mane fashioned from snips of string, waxed-paper wings, or twist-tie antlers.

4. PIGLET: With a small half circle, form and glue a paper cone. Flatten the tip of the cone with your thumb to create a pig snout. Glue on big, floppy ears and attach the head to the body with tape.

5. ALLIGATOR: Match up a pair of 2 1/2-by-1 1/2-inch rectangles with the shorter edges at the top and bottom. Glue together the very tops, then fold back the glued portion and make a crease. With pinking shears, trim the sides and bottoms of the rectangles to create a tapered, toothy jaw. Glue the folded edge to the back of the body. Finally, glue on a pair of googly-eyes.

Sock Puppets

Materials

• Adult-size socks

• Styrofoam balls

• 3/8-inch dowels

• Paper or plastic cups

• Pairs of wiggly eyes

• Felt and yarn

• Pipe cleaners

• Glue stick or craft glue

• Cotton balls or batting

RABBIT: Push the dowel into the ball at a slight angle. Cut two ears out of white felt and two inner ears out of pink felt. Bend a pipe cleaner in half, sandwich it between the felt pieces, and glue them together with the pipe cleaner ends protruding an inch. Pull a white sock over the ball, then glue on wiggly eyes and a pink pompom nose with cotton balls on each side. Cut slits in the sock on the “head” and push the ears into the ball. Stuff the “neck” with batting, poke a hole in the cup and slide it, upside down, onto the dowel. To move the rabbit, hold the cup in one hand and twist the stick with the other.

DRAGON: Pull a green sock over the ball and stick, leaving 4 inches at the toe. Cut flames out of felt, sandwich a Popsicle stick between them and glue them together with the stick jutting out an inch. Poke a hole in the sock tip and push the stick into the ball. Cut two spines out of green felt, glue the straight edges down the puppet’s back, then glue the spines together. Glue on eyes, a cone-shaped felt horn and two felt nostrils. Stuff the neck with batting and slip the cup on the stick.

ELEPHANT: Stuff batting into the toe of a blue sock. Pull the sock over the ball and stick, leaving 5 inches for the trunk. Tie five 3-inch pieces of yarn around the trunk and poke holes on each side for two pipe-cleaner tusks. Glue on the eyes. Cut two ears out of felt, punch holes around the edges and weave a pipe cleaner through the holes. Poke two holes in the sock, and slip in the ears, pushing the pipe cleaners into the ball. Stuff the neck and slide the cup on the stick.

HORSE: Push a cup into the toe of a yellow sock and pull the sock over the ball and stick. Cut two oval ears out of felt, a blaze for the face out of white felt and nostrils out of pink felt, and glue them in place. Make a mane out of a rectangle of brown felt; fringe the edges and glue to the neck. To make the bridle, tie a loop of yarn around the nose; tie a second loop around the forehead. Use two pipe-cleaner rings for the bit. Tie a piece of yarn to one ring and loop it over the head to the other. Lastly, tie yarn reins to the rings, stuff the sock with batting and slip over another cup. (Source: www.familyfun.go.com)