Art
Puppets
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Te Whāriki curriculum link
Communication Goal 4: Children discover and develop different ways to be creative and expressive.
Puppets are fun to make. Household items can be used to make an inexpensive but delightful puppet. Designing and crafting puppets at any age challenges the imagination and can give a sense of accomplishment when the finished product comes to life.
Children can use almost anything as a puppet - a sock on a hand, a soft toy, paper bags, cardboard tubes or boxes and so on. Take care with scissors and small parts.
Some easy puppets to make:
- Use a felt tip (washable) marker to draw a face on the palm of your child’s hand. Tie a piece of yarn around the wrist for a collar. Draw one on your own hand so the two puppets can sing, dance and play together.
- Using a wooden stick, glue, thin cardboard and felts/crayons, cut a face, arms and legs from the card and attach to the body (stick), then draw in a face and other details. Make clothes if you want. You can use wool for hair and draw in facial features.
- A sock makes a great snake, dinosaur, or bird. Draw or stitch eyes and other details. Have your child use their thumb for the lower jaw and the rest of their fingers to manipulate the top of the head and mouth. The sock will cover the forearm, forming the body.
- One of the most popular puppets can be made from a brown paper lunch bag with a face detailed on, yarn added for hair and strips of colored paper for arms, legs and clothes.
Your child can paint a sturdy cardboard box to make a stage. A sofa, table or chair can also make an excellent stage. Use your puppets to recite rhymes, sing songs or act outsimple stories. Talk about how the character is feeling – happy, sad, grumpy and so on. Encourage your child to put on a show or tell a story using puppets. You or another family member could join in the show.
Useful link http://www.play-script-and-song.com/easy-to-make-puppets.html