How to make Paper Bag Puppets

A recent notification about a Twitter update being retweeted reminded me that I have been seriously slacking in migrating my articles from the soon to be defunct Helium web site. The update in question was an article on how to build a puppet stage from cardboard that was retweeted by LSP @puppet_school, It's a small thing, but I'm grateful for it, since I published over 300 articles on Helium and in December they will disappear if I don't do something to preserve them. 

I've just transferred the puppet stage article, and since this one was related, I wanted to transfer it at the same time.

Making Paper Bag Puppets

Making puppets from paper bags is cheap, quick and easy and is just the kind of activity that will keep your wildly imaginative kids entertained for hours on end. What's more, the fun doesn't stop with the creation of the puppets themselves. Once your kids have a nice collection of paper bag puppet characters they will have to come up with stories to start their own puppet theater to entertain the rest of the family.

Kids love pretend and puppets are a great way for them to explore storytelling and imaginary adventures. With a little help from you they can even create their own puppet home movies. Animals, storybook characters, monsters and even alien creatures will be invading your home, righting wrongs and battling the big bad wolf for the amusement of friends, relatives, classmates and anyone who will listen.

Getting started is as simple as assembling a few craft essentials. All you need is a package of brown or white paper lunch sacks, glue and an assortment of paper or fabric scraps. For puppets with more detailed features pencil, markers or crayons would be helpful. Scissors are handy for older children who are good at cutting but you may want to cut shapes for hair, eyes, noses and mouths, etc., ahead of time. This will make things easier for your junior puppet master.

The bottom of the paper bag will serve as the puppet's face and the flap created by the fold of the bottom against the upper portion of the bag will serve as its mouth. Your child will make the puppet "talk" by inserting his or her hand in the opening for what would normally be the top of the bag and working the flap up and down with their fingers.

To make a puppet simply add eyes and other facial features by cutting geometric shapes from pink, brown, white or black construction paper and gluing them onto the paper bag. To see an assortment of cute animal puppets you can make simply and quickly using very few materials visit Enchanted Learning's paper bag puppet craft page at: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/puppets/paperbag/. A number of other web sites have instructions and templates online for creating all sorts of puppets from animals to holiday themed characters including First School, ABC Teach, and DLTK.

If crafting from scratch is just not your forte it's okay; all hope is not lost as there are a few great craft kits available for wonderful paper bag puppets from Martha Stewart that come with everything you need included. These are available through Amazon.com com, Walmart and local craft stores.

Paper bag puppets are so simple even the most craft challenged adult will have no trouble completing several of them in a manner of hours. The best part is at a cost of just pennies a piece, your child can make as many as he or she wishes.

Make a DIY Puppet Theater from Cardboard

I've been lagging behind the past few months as I've been busy with Speed Dating event management, but now that the year is winding down and Helium is about to go away forever, a Twitter retweet notification from LSP @PuppetSchool this morning has reminded me it's time to resume migrating all my articles before they disappear!

The original article, titled How to Make a Cardboard Puppet Stage, first appeared on Helium in July of 2010.  I also did a related article for them on making paper bag puppets, and another on finding resources for making paper mache. I want to thank LSP @PuppetSchool for digging up that Twitter update and sharing it with their followers.

How to Make a Cardboard Puppet Stage

Building a cardboard puppet stage is a great weekend activity to do with the kids, especially on rainy days when playing outdoors is out of the question. If you have a large cardboard box, paints and a bit of fabric you have everything you need to create your very own family puppet stage.

The best box to use will be a tall rectangular one such as the wardrobe boxes for storing clothing during a move or a large appliance box. These will make great free standing puppet theaters, but medium sized boxes could be used just as easily to create tabletop stages.

If using a tall box, carefully remove the top fold-down flaps with a box cutter or very sharp scissors. Next you will need to remove one full rectangular panel from one side of the box. (Leave the bottom intact.) This will serve as the back of the puppet stage.

On the opposite side of the wardrobe box, across from the panel you removed, cut out a rectangular piece of cardboard to serve as a window. This will be the audience side of your puppet stage.  Take care not to make the front window too large or too small.  It should be just large enough to allow viewing of two or three hand puppets (perhaps twelve inches tall by fourteen inches wide).

The height of the front window from the bottom of the box should leave room for the performers not to be seen during a puppet show.  The actual placement will depend upon the size of the cardboard box used to create the puppet stage.  By leaving the “floor” of the box intact the puppet theater will be able to stand on its own without any support.

The next step is to decorate the stage to make it performance ready.  To transform your humble cardboard box into a magnificent puppet stage (after cutting) begin by either adding a coat of black poster paint or by covering the box with black fabric.  Actual fabric curtains can be added on to the front of the puppet stage or painted on.  If using fabric curtains you’ll want to create ties to hold them back during a performance.

Creating a cardboard puppet theater is as easy as cutting a few pieces from a large enough box and decorating the outside to your liking.  If using a smaller carton, such as one that has held several jugs of water or reams of paper, cut the window from the bottom of the box and turn it on its side to be used as a tabletop puppet stage.