Finger Puppet Crafts

To learn more about the benefits of play, activities to play with your kids, and age appropriate toys check out these links from The American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA) on astratoy.org

• The Importance of Play
• Play By Age
• Toys By Age

Playing with your kids is not only a fun way to bond, it is also an educating experience for them. As an aspiring toy store owner, I have been recently doing research on the benefits of play for children. I have been amazed by what I have discovered! The simplest toys actually provide children with the best experiences because they are able to utilize their imagination and hone basic, but important, skills.

Making toys for play with your kids encourages bonding, self esteem, imagination, motor skills, and increased confidence. I plan to do a series of Hubs on DIY toys that inspire children, but this first one is for finger puppets.

I don't know about you, but I loved finger puppets when I was a kid. My siblings and I would put on little plays for our mom and grandparents. The best part though was making them.

Today, kids are bombarded with technology. Although I find it intriguing how easily my toddler son can navigate my mother's iPad, it also worries me. I fear that with all the techy toys that are out there my boys will miss out on the fun of make believe and will not appreciate the beauty of simplicity. I'm a bit ashamed to say that I have not been very active in making sure this doesn't happen. Despite my crafting skills, I find I don't have very much time to make toys for my boys--but that's about to change! I'm MAKING time! Starting with these, fun, simple, and adorable finger puppets!

When you're done cut up a cardboard box or a cereal box to create a stage for your characters. Or just hide behind the arm of your couch like I did, haha.

These are really cute and simple finger puppets that don't require a lot of artistic skill and are very inexpensive to make. You could make finger puppets or hand puppets or even flat plush toys.

Materials

Craft Felt Sheets

Scissors

Pencil

Glue Gun*

Needle and Thread*

Puff Paint or Fabric Paint**

Pen or Permanent Marker**

Buttons or other notions for embellishment

* You can sew these or glue them together. If you don't know how to sew, or want to make them really quick so you can just hurry up and play with your kids I would recommend using a hot glue gun. Fabric glue or regular glue could also potentially work, but it takes some time to dry--and felt still tends to fall apart after being glued together.

** Any of these or good or you don't have to use any of them. This is just for detailing, like adding eyes, nose, and mouth. I didn't have a lot of materials on hand so i just used a basic ballpoint pen to add my eyes and used other bits of felt to add other features.

These can be as creative, detailed, or simple as you want them to be. The point is to have fun, not to make a masterpiece.

For puppets with arms, you can make a separate template that has arms. To make a puppet with arms a different colour from the body (like with the Panda), simply glue a body without arms on top of a body that has arms.

I will be updating this Hub with more finger/hand puppet crafts as I make them so please follow and check back later to see what's new.

To see more fun things you can do with your kids, check out my Mommy Fun board and Project Ideas board on Pinterest.