www.scholastic.co.uk/junioredplus DECEMBER 2008

TEX

T A

ND

IMA

GES

© N

OEY

MCE

LWEE

, D&

T TE

ACh

Er A

ND

FrEE

LAN

CE W

rITE

r

Step-by-step stick puppets

You will need:Plastic drink bottle (big enough for a child to put their hand inside when the bottom is removed); approx 1/2 metre fabric; polystyrene ball;

thin piping cord; old tights; elastic band; fun foam or felt; kebab stick; Velcro®; wool; modelling clay; card, fabric and felt-tipped pens for making details (wand, crown and so on); masking tape; craft knife (for adult use) and scissors.

Remove the cap from the drink bottle and cut the bottom off. Cover the bottom edge of the bottle with a few layers of masking tape to protect from sharp edges. Cut the leg from a pair of tights

and slide it over the bottle. Push any spare fabric up inside the ‘body’.

Cut a circle of fabric, approximately 45cm in diameter, for the skirt of a fairy or Queen of Hearts puppet. Use a smaller circle of fabric for the wizard and

knight. Place the middle of the fabric on top of the neck of the bottle and smooth down over the bottle’s main body, holding it half way down. Use an elastic band to hold the fabric in place around the ‘waist’.

6

2

Tie a piece of piping cord, approximately 20cm long, around the bottle ‘neck’ to create arms. Cut two pairs of hands from either fun foam or felt and glue

to the ends of the piping cord arms.

Carefully cut a hole into the polystyrene ball using a craft knife so that you can push the polystyrene ball head onto the neck of the bottle. Decorate the ball

with wool for the hair and use modelling clay or felt-tipped pens to create the eyes, nose and mouth.

Make any other details, such as the crown and hankie for the Queen; the wand and wings for the fairy; the staff and hat for the wizard, and the sword and cross for the knight, and glue in place.

Stick the hooked side of a small piece of Velcro® to the inside of one hand and wrap the fluffy side around the blunt end of a kebab stick. Attach the hand and kebab stick together.

The puppet can be operated by putting one hand up inside the body and using the other to manipulate the kebab stick to move the puppet’s arm.

1

3

4

5

7

Name

Use our easy-to-follow instructions to create your own stick puppets. A step-by-step guide to building a theatre for your puppets is available from www.scholastic.co.uk/junioredplus

PHOTOCOPIABLE 1

www.scholastic.co.uk/junioredplus DECEMBER 2008

TEX

T A

ND

IMA

GES

© N

OEY

MCE

LWEE

, D&

T TE

ACh

Er A

ND

FrEE

LAN

CE W

rITE

r

Step-by-step dragon puppet

2

Remove the bottom half of another bottle for the dragon’s tail (the neck of which goes at the end). Use thick cord to string the head, a toilet roll (the dragon’s neck), the body and tail together. Knot the ends.

Make card triangles to form a spiny back bone and paint them silver. Glue on using a glue gun.

Make the feet from the bottom third section of four probiotic yoghurt drink bottles. Pierce a central hole through

each one and add card ‘claws’ around the bottom open edges. Sticky tape a length of thin cord to a kebab stick. Thread the kebab stick and cord up through a foot, then through both sides of the body (you will need to pierce holes) and into another foot. Leave enough loose cord to create dangly legs. Remove the kebab stick and sticky tape from the cord. Trim and knot the cord on both feet to secure. Repeat for the back legs.

1

3

4

5

Name

Use our easy-to-follow instructions to create your own dragon puppet. A step-by-step guide to building a theatre for your puppet is available from www.scholastic.co.uk/junioredplus

You will need:Balloon; PVA glue; newspaper; toilet roll; drinks bottles, probiotic yoghurt bottles; plastic

wash ball; thick and thin cord; craft foam; voile fabric; thin pieces of wood or lolly sticks; string; petroleum jelly; sticky tape; card; tapestry needle; glue gun; kebab stick; craft knife (for adult use); paints; scissors and goggley eyes.

Partially inflate a balloon and smear with petroleum jelly. Cover with three layers of newspaper and PVA glue and leave to dry thoroughly. This will make the body. Once dry, deflate the balloon by cutting two small holes at either end.

Cut a drink bottle about a third of the way down from the top and tape the end to a plastic wash ball. Cover both pieces

with a layer of newspaper and PVA glue to make the dragon’s head and snout (do not cover the hole in the bottle top). Paint the head a suitable colour. Make a small hole in the underside of the wash ball.

PHOTOCOPIABLE 2

www.scholastic.co.uk/junioredplus DECEMBER 2008 TEX

T A

ND

IMA

GES

© N

OEY

MCE

LWEE

, D&

T TE

ACh

Er F

rEEL

AN

CE W

rITE

r

6

7

Name

Pierce three holes in the dragon for the hanging strings – one in the head and the other two either side of the body. Use a long tapestry needle to thread a long piece of thin cord through the two body holes. The centre of the cord should sit between the two holes inside the dragon. Remove the needle and set aside the two loose ends. Thread the needle with another piece of cord and knot the end. Thread this through the snout and up through the head hole. Tie the two body strings onto

each end of one piece of wood and the head string onto another piece of wood in a cross shape.

Cut a forked tongue from red paper and glue it inside the snout. Create firey breath by threading strips of voile-like (light and opaque) red and orange fabric through two large beads. Knot to secure and glue the beads in place.

Cover the entire dragon with fabric scales starting from the tip of the tail. Use slightly larger scales on the

body and finish with smaller scales around the head. Attach a strip of fabric to the end of the tail and finish with an arrow-like point made from fun foam covered in suitable fabric.

For the wings, cover one side of some craft foam with suitable fabric. Cut out two wing shapes and glue a lolly stick to the back of each one (the non-fabric side). Use a craft knife to make small slits in either side of the body and push the wings inside. Create and attach a pair of ears in the same way. Add some felt or goggley eyes.

8

Step-by-step dragon puppet (cont...)

9

PHOTOCOPIABLE 3