Rainy day? Put on a Puppet Play!

There’s a good reason why puppets have been popular for 4000 years—they’re as fun to make as they are to play with. Entertain young kids like Ashley-Rose did in the story, or put on a puppet play at your next family get-together.

Create your own puppets with odds and ends found around your house. Possibilities are everywhere you look. Start with felt (like the one below), or use a sock, a wooden spoon or an empty cardboard paper towel tube. With a little imagination and white glue, popcorn or pasta spirals can be turned into a funny head of hair, bottle caps become eyes, yarn makes whiskers and pipe cleaners form eyeglasses.

Ashley-Rose’s No-Sew Bunny Puppet

How to make it

1. It’s easy to make this sweet bunny. All you’ll need is white glue, scissors, two sheets of pink felt, one sheet of white felt, buttons and pink and blue fine-point felt-tipped markers.
2. If an adult can help you use a copy machine, make an enlargement of the bunny outline (see the next page) so it’s about one inch wider than your hand on both sides and the top. Then cut around the enlarged outline, trace the bunny shape onto both pieces of pink felt and cut the shapes out. If you’re not using a copy machine, you can draw the bunny outline onto a piece of pink felt, making it about one inch wider than your hand on both sides and the top. Cut the shape out. Trace that shape onto a second piece of felt and cut it out.
3. On one of the felt bunny shapes, put a thick outline of white glue all around the edges, but not on the bottom. Place the second piece on top of the first and gently press the edges together. Glue on buttons for eyes (we put one button on top of another for one of the eyes), and pieces of white felt for the ears, tummy and teeth. Let it dry overnight.
4. Once the glue has dried, use markers to draw a pink heart-shaped nose and smile. Outline the tummy and ears in pink, then add tiny lines to give it the look of “stitches.” Outline one tooth in blue and one in green. Draw blue hearts on the paws.
5. Slip your hand inside, give your puppet personality, and charm a crowd!