How to Make Paper Bag Puppets

Children relate to puppets from their earliest years. Puppets become their best friends and act as means to bring out the child's imagination and thoughts. They are fascinated by puppets and interact with them. This helps to overcome certain qualities like shyness and fear among the children. The simplest type to make is by using paper bags. Puppets made from these bags are ready in a few minute's time and kids are bound to enjoy it thoroughly.

• A paper lunch bag
• Permanent makers
• Scraps of construction paper
• Crayons or paints
• Safety scissors
• Colored yarn
• Craft glue
• Scrap materials like buttons, beads, etc.

• Choose an animal or a funny-faced monster. You could also make a clown face.
• Take the paper lunch bag. The flap that is made by the bottom fold will be the mouth of your puppet.

• Lay the paper bag flat on the ground with the opening facing you and the flap on the top side.
• Make two eyes on the flap using felt pens or markers. You could also use glue buttons or googly eyes to give a special effect.

• Now, cut out a piece from the red colored paper resembling a tongue. You could cut a triangular piece or an oval shaped one.
• Glue the tongue inside the flap in such a way that it can be seen when you lift it for the puppet to talk.

• Draw a nose with a marker. You could also stick a colored paper cut out.
• Now cut two pieces from the colored paper resembling the ears of the animal you have chosen. Glue them on both the sides at the top.

• You could make hair from the yarn. Stick it on both the sides on top of the flap.
• Make the details using colored pens and crayons. Your puppet is ready to play with you!
• Place your hand inside the bag, your fingers in the flap and move them up and down to move the flap. It looks as if the puppet is talking.

Such activities can be taken at school or at home with children. Ask them to make different puppets and you could put up a show for a kid's birthday party. Make up a story using all the puppet characters they have made and ask the kids to lift their puppets over a couch or some screen. I'm sure they will have an enthralling experience.