If you haven’t figured it out by now, this isn’t a mom craft blog. This isn’t a craft blog because I am Creative Craft Handicapped (try saying that 5 times fast). I don’t just look at an old dirty burlap potato sack and think This is going to make the cutest bedspread ever. All I see is a dirty burlap potato sack that belongs in the garbage. I am not very good at coming up with crafts, but I am pretty good at copying other people’s crafty ideas.
Recently I have been researching easy puppets to make. Puppets are a great way to involve children in creative play because they have to take on roles and act out scenarios. Unfortunately, purchasing puppets can be really expensive. It will take some time to build up a puppet collection, so in the meantime I will make my own. I found all sorts of creative people who were kind enough to share their artistic abilities on the world wide web and offer step by step instructions for the craftily impaired. I decided to start my puppet making projects with this cute Badminton Puppet.
I found some cheap Badminton Racquets at the dollar store. I also picked up some googilie eyes and pom-poms. I already had yarn and hot glue. In total I think I spent four dollars, but you could probably make it for less if you already had buttons or pom-poms on hand to make the face.
I let my daughter help me lay out the face before we glued it down. We chose to hot glue the face on. This is nice because if we ever get sick of the puppet, we can pop the face off pretty easily and make a new one, or actually use the racquets for their designed purpose–a game of badminton.
We chose a pom-pom for the nose and some cut some red foam for a mouth, but you can use anything you want for the face. While I was gluing with the hot glue gun, my daughter took to organizing the pom-poms.
Instead of gluing the hair on, I just tied it on with a couple of strong knots. For the girl, I tied the hair at the top and then where each of the bows are placed. For the boy, I just tied several pieces of short around the top of the racquet.
And Voila! A simple but cute puppet. We are currently talking about emotions in our house, so that is why the dude has a frowny face. Anyway, we have had lots of fun with these puppets the past couple of days. I will warn you to only let your children play with these under adult supervision because children seem to have a tendency (or at least my child) to whack walls and furniture with them. Here are a few more puppets on our To-do list:
No sewing
Some sewing required
Oh and here is a simple but cute puppet theater. Right now we are just hiding behind the couch, but I think we will upgrade to this soon.
What cool ideas do you have for homemade puppets?
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I love these! What a creative, simple idea! I might do this with the 8 kids that are coming to my house for playgroup tomorrow. I’m no expert in the puppet world, but I can definitely vouch for the fact that they inspire creative thinking. My daughter loves to play with them.
Oh my gosh, those are adorable. I’m totally pinning them to Pinterest
[...] Ten Homemade Puppets that Make Any Child Play Creative- Puppets are a great way for children to engage in creative play. They still take on roles and act out scenarios. Puppets can be expensive and difficult to find. Consider tapping into your creative juices to make your own puppets. [...]
Loved the Puppet Theatre. Grandchildren and I were trying to make one from a cardboard box. This will be better! Thanks.