Make Finger Puppets
Finger puppets are a fun toy for people of all ages! With some creativity, you can make the puppets resemble anything you would like. Making simple finger puppets is fairly easy and is a great arts & crafts experience.
Contents
Steps
Using Fabric Gloves
- Assemble the materials. You will need fabric gloves, scissors, glue, various colors of felt, and anything you want to decorate the puppets with!
- Fabric gloves can be found at many gardening stores. It is better to pick up a larger size to give you more room to decorate the puppets.
- The felt will be used to help decorate the puppet. Buy fairly large squares of felt to ensure you have plenty in case of a mistake.
- The decorations can be anything from googly eyes to sparkles. You might also want to pick up pipe cleaners to help make the puppet come alive.
- Cut the fingers off the old gloves. Discard any fingers that have a hole in the top unless you are creating a "bald" puppet (your fingertip will be the bald patch).
- Try to cut the fingers off so that the puppet will fit your finger. If you have a smaller hand, cut farther up on the glove finger.
- Edge the base of the fingers to prevent unravelling. A simple hand-stitch is fine. Glue works just as well if you can't or don't want to sew. Simply glue around the edges of the finger where you can see the seam. You can also use blanket stitch if you know how.
- This will help the puppet last longer through continued use
- Decide on what you want to create. Your cut-off glove finger will serve as the body for your creation. The various colors of felt will help you to get the right "skin" color for the body. For example, if you want to create a lion, use a light colored yellow felt.
- Wrap the body(the cut-off glove finger) with the felt. You can either glue the felt on or stitch it.
- Create the face of the puppet and decorate the body. The face can look like anything you want as it is your puppet!
- You can glue on googly eyes or cut out small circles from the felt. It may be best to use an exacto-blade for this task.
- Glue on a nose made from felt, sequins, tiny buttons etc.
- Create a mouth. Glitter sticks are great for this, or cut a felt smile and glue on.
- Add the hair. Use yarn, wool, string for hair. If you are making a puppet that resembles a person, add the hair to the top of the puppet, around where the seam is. If you are making an animal puppet, glue short pieces of string around the entire body.
- Add anything else you would like to the puppet. If you are making a man, use pipe cleaners or cut out pieces of paper to add a hat! You can decorate the puppet with anything you would like.
Stitching Puppets Using Materials
- Decide on what you want to create. This will help you determine what you need to buy. If you are making an animal, decide what color will best resemble the animal's fur. If you are making a person, decide what color skin you want your puppet to have.
- Gather your materials. You will need various colors of felt, something to draw on the felt, scissors or an exacto blade, and a thread & needle. You should also purchase any decorations you would like to have, such as googly eyes or sparkles. If you cannot or do not want to sew, be sure to also have a hot glue gun.
- The color of the felt should match the color of the fur or skin of your creation.
- Be sure to purchase plenty of felt. It is easy to make mistakes so give yourself some room.
- Take two layers of felt in your desired color. Put your finger or your child's finger on top of the felt. Trace about a quarter of a centimeter around the perimeter of the finger with tailor's chalk or any marker that will show up on the felt. If you want the puppet to have arms, draw some while tracing the finger.
- If you traced your finger on the edge of the felt, you will not need to cut a straight line because the edge serves as a straight line.
- Cut on the line with shears/fabric scissors or an exacto blade. Be sure to trace the line exactly so that it later fits your finger well. Cut a straight line across the bottom of the trace to finish it off. This will be where your finger goes later on.
- Sew or glue the two pieces of fabric together. Since you need a place to put your finger, do not join the two pieces of fabric at the bottom, flat-end of the puppet. Sew around the perimeter of the finger puppet close to the edge using an overcast stitch or a blanket stitch. Again, sew fairly close to the edge so there is lots of room for the finger, and use small, neat, and even stitches for a professional appearance.You may need a pin or two to hold the felt in place while you sew. Refer here if you need to learn to sew.
- If you are unable to sew, or do not have a lot of time, use a hot glue gun. Remove the top layer of felt and carefully apply the glue in a thin line around the puppet. Make sure the glue is close to the edge of the felt, and that none gets in the middle of the finger puppet. Press the top layer of felt back onto the bottom layer. The felt should be aligned and not crooked; the finger puppet could easily get messed up if this step is done incorrectly. Let the puppet sit for a while after this step.
- Decorate your puppet. At this point, you should be able to open up the two pieces of felt at the bottom, flat end. Now you can let your imagination run free to really make the puppet your own!
- If you have decided to create a person, create clothing out of the felt and hot glue it on to the puppet. The correct size for the clothing can be determined by tracing the body of the puppet and cutting the felt.
- If you have decided to create an animal, glue fur from string or light wool onto the animal.
- Use any other materials you think would help with the puppet such as sparkles or pipe cleaners.
Tips
- An easy finger puppet theatre can be made from a shoebox or a cereal box. If you stand the box on its end and cut out a small window at the top of the box, this will become the puppet's stage. Make sure that your arm can fit up into the box. Decorate the box with curtains and "lights". Lace, buttons and fabric are ideal things to glue onto your theatre.
- Wash the gloves before making your finger puppet unless your intention is to create a dirty finger puppet, representing a tramp or homeless person perhaps.
Things You'll Need
- Old gloves
- Stick-on eyes
- Scraps of fabric: felt, cotton etc.
- Buttons, beads, sequins, glitter
- Yarn or wool
- Thread
- Needle
- Scissors
- Glue
