Pop-Up Puppets

SOURCE: http://mommymeatloaf.blogspot.com/2010/03/peek-boo-puppets.html

Start off with a wooden dowel. Take a styrofoam ball and stick it on the end of the dowel to form a head (I guess it would really be the skull since it will be covered, but anyway...) Then, take a plastic cup, cut out the bottom, and slide it up onto the stick.


Next, take a sock (I used an old one because its cheaper than buying one) and slide it over the ball, down the dowel, and up over the cup. The sock needs to be hot-glued to the cup. Before you glue it, make sure the cup is all the way at the end of the dowel; this is so you have room to move the puppet up and down when its finished. If the sock is longer than the cup, just cut the sock.

Now you want to take fabric, felt, or whatever and cover the cup.

Ok, so on to the fun part. You can use felt cut-outs, wiggly eyes, pom-poms, pipe cleaners,or whatever else you want to make a face and decorate your puppet. This is a part thats fun for the kids. Now of coarse, they can't use the hot glue gun, but you can give them Elmer's and let them go crazy. The Elmer's doesn't stick so well, but when they aren't looking you can use your hot glue gun and re-secure their pieces. For mine, I made curly hair by wrapping yarn around a dowel, wetting it, and microwaving until dry. Make sure to microwave at small increments (20 seconds or so) or you will burn the dowel and yarn. Trust me, I know!!

Sock Puppets

Source: http://www.sandiegozoo.org/kids/craft_zoo_puppets.html

What you need


• 1 empty gelatin box (or box that size) for each puppet
• An old, but clean, sock
• Scissors
• Glue
• Fabric scraps, construction paper, yarn, sequins, felt, pipe cleaners, etc.
• Tape

What you do

1. Tape the open end of the gelatin box closed. Lay the box flat, then start cutting the top across the middle. Cut all the way across the middle and down each of the sides, but don't cut the bottom that was lying on the table (look at the diagram). Now fold the box in half along the middle of the uncut side. If you put your thumb and fingers in the open parts, you can move it like a mouth. This is the puppet's mouth.

2. Take the sock and cut off the toe, about two inches from the end. Slip the sock over the box, so it creates a head and neck for the puppet, with a moving mouth. Glue the edges of the sock onto the box to keep it together.

3. Now you can use the fabric scraps and other materials to decorate the box and the sock to create any animal you choose. Felt teeth can be glued inside the mouth (square ones for herbivores or pointy ones for carnivores), and a pink oval (or a blue-black one if you're making a giraffe!) can be glued inside to make a tongue. You could make antlers or horns with pipe cleaners, a mane with yarn, spots or stripes, and different sizes and shapes of ears and eyes. You could make antelope or deer, big or small cats, foxes, pigs, giraffes, hippos...you name it!

Sea Turtle Marionette

Source: http://www.sandiegozoo.org/kids/craft_trash_puppet.html

What you need

(You can substitute anything you have that is similar to these items.)
•1 clear plastic deli container with a snap-on lid, like the ones that parmesan cheese comes in. This is the turtle's shell.
•4 plastic spoons to make the flippers. Carefully break off the handles of the spoons, leaving only about one-half inch of the handle and the scoop part. An adult could also snip off the handles with wire cutters, but don't try that yourself.
•1 plastic container from individual-size pudding cups. This is the turtle's head.
•4 wine bottle corks for legs
•4 buttons–2 for eyes, 2 for anchors for your marionette strings.
•1 piece of sponge for the turtle's tail
•5 twist ties
•2 popsicle sticks for your marionette control
•4 small screw eyes to connect the legs to the shell
•Thick white glue
•Nail
•Hole punch–the kind you hold in your hand
•Heavy thread
•Acrylic paints, if you'd like to paint your turtle

What you do

1. Legs and flippers: Cut a small slit in one end of the cork. You might want an adult to help you. Push the shortened spoon handle (flipper) into the cork. On the other end, twist the screw eye into the cork. Repeat for the other three corks.

2. Head: Use the nail to punch a hole into the bottom of the pudding cup. You will later thread a control string through here. Use the hole punch to punch a hole near the rim of the cup. This is where the head will connect to the shell. Now turn the cup over so the opening is downward. This is how the head will be placed. Glue two buttons to the front for eyes (the punched hole is in the back).

3. Shell: Take the lid off of the container. Use the nail to punch a hole in the center of the bottom of the container. This is for your control string. Now use the hole punch to punch five holes around the rim, one for the head to connect and four for the legs to connect. Keep the holes closer to the front than to the back. Now punch five holes in the container lid, in the same places as those in the container.

4. Tail: Cut a small triangle from the sponge. Glue it on to the back of the container, down near the rim.

5. Control: Glue the two popsicle sticks together in a T shape and let dry.

6. Paint: Paint each piece and let dry. Make the mouth pointed. Paint the "scutes," or sections of the shell.

7. Strings: Cut 6 pieces of heavy thread, each one about 18 inches long. Head string: Tie one end of a thread onto a button. Thread the other end up through the pudding cup until it rests on the button (it will kind of look like a bell on a string). Shell string: Repeat for the other button and thread it up through the small hole in the container. Now snap the lid on the container, making sure you match up the large holes you punched for the neck and legs.

8. All together: Use a twist tie and thread it through the large hole in the pudding cup, then the holes in the front of the container and its lid. Twist to secure, but not too tight. The head needs to be able to move freely. Next attach a leg and flipper by threading a twist tie through the screw eye, and then the large leg holes in the container and lid. Be sure the spoon is turned so the rounded part is facing up. Repeat for the other three legs/flippers. All the legs will point toward the back of the turtle.

9. Strings on the control: Tie a thread around each of the flippers where the handle of the spoon meets the cork. Now attach everything to the control. It's easier if you have someone to help hold the control as you tie on the strings. Tie the shell (body) thread to the crossed part of the T. Tie the head thread to the very end of the long center stick of the control. Gather the two threads for the flippers on the right side of the turtle and tie them to the end of one of the cross pieces of the T. Repeat for the left side. Be sure your turtle's legs are even with his body as shown, so it looks like he's swimming. Put a dab of glue on all your knots, and on the control to keep the strings from slipping off. Let it dry. Cut off any excess thread and you're ready to swim the seas! Tilt the control from side to side and watch what happens. With a little practice, you can make your turtle really look like he's swimming.