11 DIY Puppets You Can Make at Home
We adore making DIY Puppets you can make at home!! Puppets are much easier to make that you think and a great easy kids craft. Can be made from all sorts of materials AND provide hours of creative fun.
Here is are favourite collection of puppets with step by step instructions that you can make all year round! I find they are particularly great for those long summer days – keep kids busy creating making stories!
Fun Paper Puppets with Step by Step instructions
Ah yes, the fun you can have with just PAPER! Paper is incredibly versatile and of course super fun to craft with. We have a whole range of paper crafts for you to peak at… and you can find all our Paper Puppets here, many with free printable templates! But as per this collection, we have for you the following:
Once you have learnt how to make this “classic” paper hand puppet, you can turn it into any design that you want! The basic paper puppet is super easy to make and I featured it in my Easy Paper Projects book for that reason. Here are some variations on the theme:
- Dog Hand Puppet
- Tiger Hand Puppet
- Mouse hand puppet
- Bee hand puppet
- Piggy hand puppet
- Unicorn hand puppet & Crocodile hand puppet over on Make Film Play here and here.
These Paper Bird Finger Puppets took the internet by storm! I think it is because they really are super simple to make and you can get as creative as you like with them. We actually used SCRAP paper from the recycling bin to make them too. How super eco friendly and thrifty!
As mentioned we have a whole range of printable paper puppets with moving limbs. One for every season – from the a hopping bunny to an adorable Christmas Elf!
Check out Ted Bear and Scarecrow!
Fun recycled DIY Puppets to make with kids
We love the eco friendliness of paper puppets.. but you can have lots of fun with recycled puppet crafts too!
No collection of homemade puppets would be complete with out some classic sock puppets. As you can see, we have revisited this classic many a time over the years. Hot Glue guns make them extra easy. But a good PVA glue or some good old hand sewing works as well. Our sock puppets can be found here:
Oh yes, of course our Cardboard Tube Puppets or Marionettes! These go back a LONG way here on Red Ted Art and we had great fun making a variety of these TP Roll Puppets. More info here:
I love it when readers send me in their photos of our crafts! Here is the upcyceld Unicorn Puppet again.
Paper Bags also make the perfect “Hand sized” Puppet. Here we have andorable set of love bug paper bag puppets made by I Heart Crafty Things for us many moons ago. Aren’t they cute?!
We love saving tissue paper from gift wrap and flowers. Combine with corks, some pipe cleaners and sticks and you can make these wonderful Three Kings Puppets!
How to make Finger Puppets
We do love finger puppets don’t we! I know I shared the Bird Finger Puppets above.. but I guess they fit into both sections! Here we have some fabulous creations!
Learn how to make a pirate puppet! By now, you may well be familiar with my Kids’ Craft series over on Sky Kids! Series 1 of Best Makes Ever! features these wonderful Pirate Finger Puppets. I guide you through how to turn a humble pad of coloured paper into these cute little Pirate Finger Puppet characters (and a parrot puppets too of course!).
Next up, I have a lovley Origami Finger Puppet from my friend Jenny over at Origami Tree. Jennt is super talented and has some wonderful Origami projects for you to try, including these little Cat Origami Finger Puppets. Aren’t they fun?!
Another finger puppet “type” are these fun “finger puppets”.. get it.. the fingers.. become part of the puppet’s legs. So cute. We have a Pirate Finger Puppet and some adorable “circle” mouse finger puppets!
Another cute set of finger puppets are these Paper Mice Puppets – learn about circles, quarters and cones, with this cute basic maths exploration for toddlers.. then have yourself a little song of the mouse ran up the clock!
Oh my.. another olden goldie and one that features in my FIRST book “Red Ted Art, Cute & Easy Crafts for Kids!… turn Peanut shells into the cutest little set of Peanut Gnome FInger Puppets. There is even a wicked witch and snow white to go with them. Adorable.
Here is a super simple craft showing you how, with a bit of felt and glue, you can make any kind of finger puppet you want.. in this case: Minion Finger Puppets!
Other DIY Puppet Show Ideas/ Popsicle Stick Puppets:
Finally.. I wanted to highlight the fun you can have with DIY Puppet Theatres (made from cereal boxes) and popsicle stick puppets:
Make a simple theather with your favourite characters. E.g. Poppy Cat, The Masked Singer, or…
This collection of DIY Puppet Crafts, is part of our summer series of classic crafts to make with kids all year round. This is also includes our
And our top Easy Paper Crafts You can play with:
