Sunday School or Bible Clubs > Puppets
Butterfly
Make wings and a flower out of foam sheets, felt, or heavy paper. Cover a cardboard container with corrugated paper or wrapping paper and cut a hole in the back large enough for your arm to go through. Make a sock puppet--cut 2 small slits in the end of the sock and push a small length of elastic through the two holes and tie a knot. Push the knot to the inside of the sock and put it on your hand. Push the end of the sock into a pocket between you thumb and fingers to form the mouth. Put your 4 fingers through the elastic loop to hold the mouth in place, or the toe of the sock will pop back out as you make the puppet talk. Glue on googley eyes, or eyes cut from felt. Glue on antennae made from a chenille wire, or fasten on with a safety pin.
Snake
Decorate a shoebox like a present and cut a hole in the back big enough for your arm to fit through. Fill one sock with batting and tie rubber bands around the end to form the tail, and glue it to the inside of the box near the hole. Add tissue paper to the box. Make a hat out of felt, foam sheets, or heavy paper. Make the other sock into the head of the snake. cut 2 small slits in the end of the sock and push a small length of elastic through the two holes and tie a knot. Push the knot to the inside of the sock and put it on your hand. Push the end of the sock into a pocket between you thumb and fingers to form the mouth. Put your 4 fingers through the elastic loop to hold the mouth in place, or the toe of the sock will pop back out as you make the puppet talk.
Dragon
Find an appropriate box and cut a hole for your arm to fit through. You could decorate it like a building. (It might be fun to make a giant egg for the dragon to come out of instead--cover a balloon with paper mache and cut open once it is dry.) Make wings, arms and flames out of foam sheets, felt, or heavy paper. Make a sock puppet--cut 2 small slits in the end of the sock and push a small length of elastic through the two holes and tie a knot. Push the knot to the inside of the sock and put it on your hand. Push the end of the sock into a pocket between you thumb and fingers to form the mouth. Put your 4 fingers through the elastic loop to hold the mouth in place, or the toe of the sock will pop back out as you make the puppet talk. Glue on googley eyes, wings, and arms.
Donkey
Make a stable out of a cardboard box covered with wood colored contact paper. Make a sock puppet--cut 2 small slits in the end of the sock and push a small length of elastic through the two holes and tie a knot. Push the knot to the inside of the sock and put it on your hand. Push the end of the sock into a pocket between you thumb and fingers to form the mouth. Put your 4 fingers through the elastic loop to hold the mouth in place, or the toe of the sock will pop back out as you make the puppet talk. Glue on googley eyes, or eyes cut from felt. Glue on ears, a mane and 2 front legs.
Horse
Make a horse the same way as the donkey. Just leave off the white nose and cut the ears smaller.
Raven
Cut wings and a beak out of black foam, felt, or heavy paper. Make a sock puppet--cut 2 small slits in the end of the sock and push a small length of elastic through the two holes and tie a knot. Push the knot to the inside of the sock and put it on your hand. Push the end of the sock into a pocket between you thumb and fingers to form the mouth. Put your 4 fingers through the elastic loop to hold the mouth in place, or the toe of the sock will pop back out as you make the puppet talk. Glue on googley eyes, or eyes cut from felt. Glue on beak and wings.
Old Lady
Find a box for the puppet to sit on, or make one out of a cardboard box covered with colored contact paper. Make a sock puppet--cut 2 small slits in the end of the sock and push a small length of elastic through the two holes and tie a knot. Push the knot to the inside of the sock and put it on your hand. Push the end of the sock to form a pocket between you thumb and fingers which will be the mouth. Put your 4 fingers through the elastic loop to hold the mouth in place, or the toe of the sock will pop back out as you make the puppet talk. Glue on googley eyes, or eyes cut from felt. Make two feet (socks with batting) and dress with a doll or teddy bear outfit.
Snail
Make a snail shell from foam sheets, felt or heavy paper. Draw on details with markers or chalk. Make a sock puppet--cut 2 small slits in the end of the sock and push a small length of elastic through the two holes and tie a knot. Push the knot to the inside of the sock and put it on your hand. Push the end of the sock to form a pocket between you thumb and fingers which will be the mouth. Put your 4 fingers through the elastic loop to hold the mouth in place, or the toe of the sock will pop back out as you make the puppet talk. Glue on googley eyes, or eyes cut from felt. Make antennae from a chenille wire and glue on or fasten on with a safety pin.
Make stuffed animals into puppets
Once your children have outgrown their stuffed animals, turn them into puppets. Simply take out a seam in the back, remove some of the batting, and put your hand in to move the mouth or the hands, depending on how the animal is made.
Buy Puppets
If you don’t want to spend time making puppets, there are plenty of options for puppets to purchase. The puppet on the right has extra long arms and legs that wrap around your neck and waist so that there is no need for a stage. If you buy puppets that don’t require a stage, they are quite versatile--you can pop them out anytime and have them talk to the kids. Young children love to talk to them, and no, they don’t mind at all that they can see your mouth moving! Once the children get older, they can be the ones to use the puppets to act out applications for the day’s lesson.
Here is a close up photo of the crucial step in making a sock puppet--cut 2 small slits in the end of the sock and push a small length of elastic through the two holes and tie a knot. Push the knot to the inside of the sock and put it on your hand. Push the end of the sock to form a pocket between you thumb and fingers which will be the mouth. Put your 4 fingers through the elastic loop to hold the mouth in place, or the toe of the sock will pop back out as you make the puppet talk.
Hats can add a lot of pizzaz--since there is not much to a sock puppet, the accessories play an important role. The simplest kind of hat is made by cutting a doughnut shape out of foam sheet, felt, or stiff paper. Glue it in one place at the top. Add decorations. Trim the hole in the middle to fit your hand and glue on the puppet. The top hat is made from two sizes of circles and rectangle. The rectangle is glued into a cylinder, then the circles are glued to the top and bottom of it.
You don’t even have cut the center hole out of either kind of hat, but it does fit on the puppet better if you do. If you decide to skip the center hole, you can add hair of some sort to cover where the hat doesn’t quite fit the head of the puppet.
Pirates
Decorate a shoebox like a treasure chest and cut a hole in the back big enough for your arm to fit through. Make a false bottom and fill with discarded or second hand costume jewelry. Or pile in a couple of ropes for a ship’s theme. Make a hat out of felt, foam sheets, or heavy paper. Make a sock puppet-- cut 2 small slits in the end of the sock and push a small length of elastic through the two holes and tie a knot. Push the knot to the inside of the sock and put it on your hand. Push the end of the sock into a pocket between you thumb and fingers to form the mouth. Put your 4 fingers through the elastic loop to hold the mouth in place, or the toe of the sock will pop back out as you make the puppet talk. Glue on eyes and hat.
Popcorn
Wash out an empty popcorn bag and cut a hole in the back for your arm. Make a sock puppet. Fill various places with batting and fasten with rubber bands so that it is bumpy all over like popcorn.
Sunday School or Bible Clubs > Puppets
