Free Articulated Leprechaun Paper Puppet for St Patrick's Day - Red Ted Art

It is about time that a Leprechaun visited Red Ted Art… don’t you think? And what better way to have fun this St Patrick’s Day with a printable Leprechaun Paper Puppet. The full color leprechaun printable continues to be free for Red Ted Art readers.

Dancing Leprechaun Puppets

Leprechaun Paper Puppet for St Patrick's Day. Adorable Paper Leprechaun Printable. Love these fabulously easy articulated paper puppet how to #leprechaun #paperpuppet #puppet #catchaleprechaun #stpatricksday #printables

This is a great paper toy to make with kids this St Patrick’s Day. Choose from our leprechaun printables – be it the Colour Your Own Leprechaun or the ready coloured (to cut and assemble) Leprechaun Paper Puppet.

And now with a great Lesson Plan and printable instructions on Teachers Pay Teachers too! A super cute little paper toy for St Patrick’s Day! A fantastic addition to our St Patrick’s Day Crafts list!

Love Paper Puppets Printables?

We have MANY more fantastic Paper Puppets with Templates for all occassions – a fantastic set of Christmas Articulated Paper Puppets, but also bats, dragons and Day of the Dead Puppet Printables. Do have a good browse!

Leprechaun Paper Puppet – Materials

Light card stock is perfect for these DIY Leprecaun Puppets – you can also Laminate them if you wish!
Either paper & a laminator and laminting sheets OR light card stock that will fit in the printer
Hole punch (single hole hole punches are super handy US / UK)
Brads/ split pins (US / UK)
Green Bakers Twine (oh how I LOVE bakers twine) (US/ UK)
A large pointy needle
PENS – optional – if you decide to download the “colour your own” Leprechaun Paper Puppet Template

As per usual, we have a set of choices for. Download the single freebie (full color no instructions) for free (simply enter $0 at check out), download the full set (coloring page, full color, plus ad-free printable instructions) from either gumroad or Teacher’s Pay Teachers.

How to make your Leprechaun Paper Puppet (Articulated)

Watch the Paper Puppet Assembly video tutorial or follow the written step by step instructions below!! Enjoy. The longer form video is also available on YouTube if that is a better resource for you!

I love that “colour your own”/ coloring page version really allows you to personalise your printable. Have fun with colours, patterns and shadings!

How to make a St Patrick’s Day paper puppet move – step by step instructions

Get your Lesson Plan, printable instructions and of course printables too over on myTeacher’s Pay Teacher’s Store for less than a cup of coffee. Or make the full color free leprechaun puppet printable. Enjoy!

Begin by choosing either your colour your own paper puppet or ready to assemble Leprechaun puppet -print the Leprechaun that suits your child best! 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 Leprechaun now…. once fully coloured, run it through the laminator.
It is now time to cut out all your Leprechaun “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 of your Leprechaun Puppet.

How to Assemble a Paper Puppet

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 Leprechaun’s 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 Leprechaun’s 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”…