No matter your skill level, making puppets can be so much fun for any age. With the variety of puppet styles available, you can create just about anything you can imagine for your storytelling ideas. Puppets can be crafted from paper, socks, cardboard tubes, felt, fabric, yarns, twigs, pine cones, paper mache and many found items. Here’s a tip: as you build your puppet keep the storyline in your head as to how you want this puppet character to feel, to move, and to interact with other story characters.
Then choose materials and add features to your puppet to capture the essence of the puppet’s personality. For example as I followed the video example from The Center for Puppetry Arts (www.puppet.org) for crafting a cat, I wanted this cat to be friendly and cuddly so I added rounder eyes and eyelashes for that welcoming look and provided soft fur on the chest. Now it is time to set up a stage, gather a few storytelling props and give this story meaning!