While growing up in a large family, monster paper bag puppets were part of my childhood. Not having a great deal of money, making fun items out of things which didn't cost anything at all was normal. This article is written in an attempt to share the experience with parents who have very little money for crafts, but who want to have fun with a craft experience kids will adore. Make sure that you have a great selection of smaller paper bags which are just a little larger than a child's hand, as these are the best for this craft. They need room to move the hand, though the bags should never be huge.
Materials needed.
*Paper Bags.
*Scissors.
*Cardboard in different colors.
*Odd scraps of wool.
*Stick on stars and pictures.
*Water paints or felt tipped pens.
*Odd scraps of soft toy filling.
*Glue stick suitable for paper.
*Elastic bands.
When making these puppets with children, always ensure that the table top is protected and that children have aprons or protection for their clothing. It is a good idea for adults to ask the kids what color monster they want to create, since children are not enthused by having to paint the whole paper bag in the chosen color. This way, parents can prepare the bags in advance in the chosen color scheme, making the actual process of making the puppets less tedious for the children.
Use source books if you have them or even the children's coloring books to give them ideas as to which kind of puppet they want to create. Great favorites for Halloween are pumpkin monsters or witches. These are very simple to make, although the choice of monster should be left to the imagination of the child, as this allows them creative freedom.
To start the monster, place a piece of soft toy stuffing into the bag and gather your hand around just above this area. Turn it over and see if you have enough stuffing for the head. Often this takes a couple of goes to get used to but do this with the kids. They can discover for themselves the size of head they want to create.
When enough stuffing has been added, tie off the neck area with an elastic band. This should be sufficiently tight to hold the filling in place, though loose enough for the child to put their finger into the head to help move the puppets head. If you have any unsightly areas which stick out at the top of the head, either use these for horns, or stick these neatly in place.
Then make a hat. Here, you can choose between a wizard hat which is made from a cone of cardboard, or a leafy hat for the leaves which appear at the top of a pumpkin, or even use the card to create horns. When the hat is made, take the wool strands and make hair, which should be stuck into the hat and then stuck onto the puppet head. Here, get the kids to wait patiently for the glue to dry, and this is an ideal time to gather up the items needed to finish the puppet, talking about what painting they are going to do, or cutting out drawn eyes, mouse, nose etc. ready to stick to the puppets face.
The next stage is to try the puppet for size. You will need to create two holes in the sides of the puppet for the child's fingers. Get them to try it onto their hand and to put their index finger into the head area. Then feel where their thumb and small finger touch the sides of the puppet, cutting out a slit so that their finger and thumb can create the arms of the puppet.
These are great toys to make, and children are easily led into the land of imagination and will improve upon the initial idea, using their own ingenuity to develop better and better puppets. You can also cut a cardboard box into use as a puppet theater and this can be placed on a piece of furniture that the child can hide behind while giving their puppet show.
Paint on zig-zag designs or spots on the base of the puppet to give it more color. Spots are easy for kids and here use really bright colors and encourage their creativity to make that perfect monster. Try out the puppets and the children can have great fun developing different voices for their monster, as well as using them for a great release of energy before or after trick and treat outings as a fun family event for Halloween.
A child's imagination should always be encouraged to grow and perhaps using different things to stick onto the puppets such as stars on hats, or little bits of braiding, the child is allowed to use their imagination to make that puppet their own creation without costing a great deal of money at all. Children love to compete and what better way than in a manner such as this, where monsters are made into characters for fun and mischief which all children enjoy.