Hand puppets are not only a fine specimen of creative arts and crafts, but also a good pastime for kids. This article gives you tips and guidelines that will help you make puppets out of your socks.
A hand puppet can be made from paper, plastic, or any other fabric. It is flexible with one or two moving parts. It is often stuffed with fur or other stuffing. The different parts such as the eyes, nose, and mouth are mostly stitched. Hand puppets are of different types and can be made of varied materials. Santa, wizard, and witch puppets are mostly made from fine-furred cloth whereas, rabbits, frogs, cats, dogs, and bunnies are made from long-furred cloth. Socks or gloves are used to make puppets. When made from paper bags, they are called paper bag puppets.
Materials Required
➺ A piece of cloth
➺ Stiff paper or cardboard
➺ Pencil
➺ Ruler
➺ Eraser
➺ Pair of scissors
➺ Glue
➺ Embroidery needles
➺ Sewing needles
➺ Bobbins
➺ Beads, ribbons, and buttons for decoration
Making Hand Puppets at Home
➺ Draw a sketch of the puppet pattern you wish to have on cardboard or paper with the help of a pencil.
➺ Now, add about one or half-inch seam line to the completed outline. Cut the outline with a pair of scissors.
➺ After cutting, place this pattern on the wrong side of the fur cloth and cut along the pattern. Repeat the same procedure for the second piece of fur cloth.
➺ Sew, embroider, or paint the different face parts of the puppet you wish to have.
➺ Now, keep the two pieces together and stitch along the edges, keeping the bottom edge open. Check whether you have kept the right sides together before sewing the edges. Clip the fabric near the curves to keep the two edges in place.
➺ Sew the bottom edge a little and turn the puppet right side out.
Sock Puppets
You need an old sock, embroidery needles, thread, yarn, glue, red paint, and beads. Once you have gathered the materials, wear the sock in one hand. Make sure that the heel of the sock touches the thumb. Also, you should be comfortable in moving your fingers within the sock. The position of fingers within the worn sock forms the mouth of the puppet. Paint the mouth in red. Remove the sock and stick or sew the eyes and nose with beads. Make hair from the yarn and stick it to the head region of your sock puppet. Now wear it and enjoy playing with it.
Glove Puppets
Your child will enjoy making a glove puppet as it gives him five different puppets on five different fingers. You need to gather yarns of different colors, some markers, scissors, glue, and beads. Draw small eyes, nose, and mouth using different markers on every glove finger. You can use beads to stick the eyes, nose, and mouth. Use yarn to make the hair. You can cut small strings of yarn and stick them together at one end and stick the strings to the tips of the glove finger. Or else stick one string at a time keeping a small distance between each string. Wear your glove and your glove puppet is ready to interact.
Paper Bag Puppets
All you need is a paper bag, some markers or crayons, buttons, beads, black yarn, glue, and scissors. Keep the paper bag upside down. The bottom fold of the bag is the mouth of the puppet. Now, take a black marker and draw the eyes and nose. You can also stick some beads or buttons for decorating the eyes and nose. Stick the hair made from black yarn, on the head. Now turn your puppet downside up and place your hand inside the bag. Place your fingers in the folded region, move them up and down and make your puppet talk.
There are some make your own puppet kits available in the market that are quite easy to use. Puppet making can be real fun, as it is not very difficult.
