Finger Puppet Fun

Simple to make, finger puppets are perfect for little hands and fingers. Here are three finger puppet designs to try with your preschoolers (and an easy design for a theatre to showcase their creations).

Glove Puppets

Wondering what to do with that glove that's missing its mate? Try turning it into a set of five finger puppets!

Materials:

• Gloves
• Wool
• Scissors
• Felt, fabric, lace, construction paper
• Googly-eyes
• Craft glue

Cut out five fabric or construction paper faces. Each can be a different shape (circles, squares, triangles) or size, depending on the characters your child wants to make.

Create the features of the face using googly-eyes, fabric, wool for hair, etc. and glue each piece to the shape. When you design the faces, think about incorporating a theme, such as barnyard animals, baby birds, or sports players.

When dry, glue each completed face onto a finger of the glove. Insert hands and wiggle!

Cardboard Finger Puppets

Materials:

• Heavy cardboard
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Crayons or markers

Visit the Colouring Pages section and print out colouring pages of your child's favourite characters. Freehand copy the character's image onto a piece of cardboard about 6x9cm. Or, shrink the image to the right size and trace it onto the cardboard. Have your child colour in the character.

Next, cut out two circles through which your child can stick his/her fingers to create either the arms or legs.

Felt Finger Puppets

Materials:

• Felt
• Googly-eyes
• Construction paper
• Scissors
• Fabric, wool, ribbons
• Buttons
• Craft glue
• Markers

Cut a rectangular piece of felt so that it is slightly taller than your child's finger and wide enough to wrap around it, with about a 1-2cm overlap. Round off the top corner. Run a thin bead of glue along the edges, leaving the bottom part open. As an alternative, stitch the edges together and turn inside out.

Once dry, your child can make the features of the character using construction paper, fabric, wool, markers, etc. Glue each feature to the body of the puppet.

Finger Puppet Theatre

Once your puppets are ready to perform, make a theatre from an empty cereal box. Simply paint the box a solid colour and cut off the top, as well as a rectangular hole in the front. Decorate the outside of the theatre and make curtains from scraps of fabric.

When dry, flip the box over, so that your child's hand and puppets enter the theatre from below.

By Rochelle Strauss