Easy Christmas Elf Paper Puppet with Templates
We love easy Paper Christmas Crafts – paper is super fun and versatile and there are so many things you can make with it.. like our super fun Paper Elf Puppets. We have a set of Boy Elf Puppets and Girl Elf Puppets.. for lots of Christmas fun. A great and easy STEAM project for kids! Fun Christmas activities this December, simply must include this paper elf craft! You could pop these in an envelope and use them instead of Christmas cards this year.. how fun would that be?
BEFORE YOU MOVE ON: We now have an adorable REINDEER Paper Puppet too and of course our Multicultural Santa Puppets!
Celebrate the Christmas season with this fun paper pupper arts and crafts activity! This is a perfect activity for 3rd grade or 4th grade (KS2) and I hope you have lots of fun with it! If you are looking for elf crafts to make this holiday season, this is the one for you!
Turn your little one into Buddy the Elf.. Thank you to Jo for sending this adorable adapation! Such a fun way to use our printable elf craft and combine it with a photo of your charges – maybe envolve the whole family and make one for each person! We love making a print elf photo puppet too! Just use our free elf template and glue your own photo over the face of our elf design.
Preschoolers will LOVE this simple STEAM project for sure.
Such a cute paper toy or use these paper elves as decorations too or stick them on your child’s door as Christmas decor.
Elf Paper Puppet – Materials
Affiliate links added for convenience. To make these fun Christmas crafts you will need to following basic craft supplies:
- Make sure you download your puppets below (there are free versions available – click on the link below the red buy it here button)
- Either paper & a laminator and laminting sheets OR light cardstock that will fit in the printer
- Hole punch (single hole hole punches are super handy US / UK)
- Brads/ split pins (US / UK)
- Pens, crayons or markers for the coloring page paper elf craft
- Bakers Twine (oh how I LOVE bakers twine) (US/ UK)
- A large pointy needle
You can get one of the full coloured elves HERE for free. But for the complete set and a 14 page printable head to my Teacher’s Pay Teacher’s store. You will get a printable lesson plan, an assembly worksheet AND 4 Santas to print (the 2 coloring pages + 11 Elf Skin tones and hair colors!).
I often have printables that FREE to my Red Ted Art readers to begin with and later become a “paid” resource. So if you want to make the most of the freebies, do sign up to my newsletter (bottom of the page) to be alerted to the latest crafts!
Elf Paper Puppet – How To
I love that “colour your own” version really allows you to personalise your printable. Have fun with colours, patterns and shadings!
Yes, yes yes YES! Anothere quick and handy how to make a paper puppet video for you.. but again, I have included instructions down below, including a schematic for how to assemble the back of your Christmas Puppet – that is in fact the key bit to your craft. Get that bit wrong and your lovely little elf won’t be able to flap his arms and legs in quite the best way!
How to make a paper puppet move – step by step instructions
- Begin by choosing either your colour your own paper puppet or ready to assemble puppet. If you are using a laminator, print on ordinary paper, if you are using just card, print directly onto the card. Be sure you use card that is suitable for your printer.
- If colouring, colour your elf now…. once fully coloured, run it through the laminator. If you are using a Fellowes laminator, you do NOT have to cut your elf out first, the Fellowes’ laminating sheets will “seal” your paper for you.
- It is now time to cut out all your Elf “bits”. Cut them as neatly as you can.
- Using your hole punch, make holes for the moving parts – 4 in the body, one each in the arms and legs.
- Thread your needle. It does help to have a large eyed, pointy needle – especially if using a laminator. If you do laminate your paper puppets you MAY need to make the holes for the bakers twine with scissors.
- Loosely connect your arms and legs with your brads / split pins.
- Now guide the thread throw the marked hole of one arm and then through the other.
- Make sure the arms are in the “down position” and that the thread runs across in a straight manner – not too tight, not too loose. Knot the other end.
- Repeat for the legs.
- Now you have one last thing to do – add a connecting piece of string between the arms and the legs – it is important that this isn’t too tight (the arms won’t move) or too loose (the legs own’t move).. again.. it needs to be “just right”…
- And your Elf Paper Puppet is FINISHED!! ENJOY!
Remember we have more Christmas Paper Puppets including Santa Claus (in fact several Santa Clauses in different skin tones)!! As well as the CUTEST Bat Paper Puppet. Do watch out for those too. I hope they bring you much joy!
You may also like these Christmas Clothespin Puppets:
Our TOP 10 Free Printable Christmas Crafts – lots more Christmas craft ideas to print out – these are our collection Christmas favorites –
Our more extensive list of free printables can be found in this Christmas Printables collection – including 3d Paper Angels and quirky photo booth prompts or the more grown up Christmas Tree coloring pages:
As well as a fabulous collection of Paper Christmas Crafts for kids:
ENJOY!! And I hope you have lots of fun with your Easy Paper Puppets for Christmas! As mentioned.. more Christmas Paper Puppet Templates coming soon.. including some wonderful Multicultural Santa Paper Puppets.. and I was also thinking maybe some Angel Paper puppets and some Rudolph/ Reindeer Paper Puppets.. what do you think? What should I work on next and add to the Elf Puppets that we have today already?
This Elf Puppet video is also available on YouTube
