What You Need:

• a favorite children’s book
• several paper bags (lunch bags work best)
• buttons, fabric scraps, yarn, construction paper
• markers or crayons
• glue or glue stick
• scissors

What You Do Together:

1. Ask your child to choose a favorite book and read it with you. Look at the pictures and discuss the characters. Encourage him to choose the characters he would like to make as paper bag puppets.

2. Provide a variety of art materials. Remind your child that the faces of the characters go on the bottom flap of the paper bag and that the flap can be the character’s mouth. If your child isn’t yet ready to use scissors, offer assistance as you cut out different shapes to represent the characters’ features.

3. As you work together, encourage creativity and thinking skills by asking questions: How many eyes do you think we’ll need? What kind of hair does the character have? What other things can we make to help our puppet look like the character? Does this character look happy? Sad? Angry? How can we show that on our puppet? How does a happy mouth look?

4. As you wait for the glue to dry, ask your child to think about different ways to act out the story. Would he like you to narrate the story while you both use the puppets to act out the parts? Would your child like to tell the story and use the puppets alone? Would he like to include you in acting out the story? You may find that it would be fun to act out the story in several ways.

5. Make the puppet show a family event. Invite other family members to be your audience. Celebrate your child’s success with a big round of applause and a family snack.

More Ways to Use Your Puppets

• Encourage your child to think of other endings for the story or to create a new story about the puppets.
• Provide her with more materials to make additional puppets as needed.
• Assist your child in developing the stories by writing down her ideas.

Make a Puppet Theater

1. Remove the top portion of a medium-size cardboard box.

2. Cut out a square or rectangular shape from the bottom of the box, leaving a one- to two-inch frame.

3. Provide your child with materials to decorate the box.

4. Place the box on a table and let the show begin! She can also use her puppet theater to tell stories with dolls, ready-made puppets, or stuffed animals.

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Take a look at the Spanish version of this activity.