Puppets by Charlie

Hi!  My name's Charlie and I'm four and I want to show kids how to make puppets.  I made puppets from the movie Brave - it's one of my favorite movies.  I'll introduce the characters - first there's Mordu.  He used to be a prince but now he isn't.  He's a very scary bear.  Next there's Mom.  She used to be a human queen but now she's not - now she's a bear.  Next is Merida - a human who loves to shoot arrows but her mom doesn't let her.  And she's really afraid of her mom when her mom is a bear.  Next there's Dad.  Dad does not believe in bears and magic.  He loves Merida so much and he hates bears.  Here's how to make the puppets!
 

Mordu, Mom, and Merida

1.  First you slap your hand down on felt fabric.  You put your hand out and draw a place for your thumb.  This is my Nana's hand.  She did every puppet shape except Dad.  If you don't make it big enough it's just small for the kids and grownups can't get their hands in.  If it's a bear, put on ears.

2.  We cut out two - one for the back and one for the front.  Then we put pins in.  

3.  You need to have a grownup sew it then.

4.  You put scars on Mordu with a pen - and arrows too.  He has a lot of arrows.  

5.  Put the eyes on with fabric glue.  If you use regular glue the pieces fall off.  Glue on a pink eye and a purple eye for Mom and green eyelash eyes for Merida.

6.  A grownup can help you cutting out the noses and lipstick lips.  And really, really scary teeth for Mordu.

7.  Put a gold crown on Mom with glitter glue and then you put a green jewel on it.  It just sticks with glitter glue.

8.  Put a blue dress on Merida and after that you put some orange hair on.  It needs to be nice and bright and curly.

9.  Then those puppets are all done.  You can't play with it right away because you have to let the glue dry.  It takes a lot of minutes.

Dad

1.  First you draw your hand on the felt fabric. 

2.  Then you put it on another fabric with pins.  You do need a lot of pins.

3.  Then you do something tricky - kids cannot do this.  Sew on the sewing machine.

4.  Then you put popsicle sticks on to make him look serious because he's a serious dad who doesn't believe in bears and magic. 

5.  Then you cut out a serious mouth - nice and straight.

6.  Then you put on a yellow eye and a green eye to make him look serious.

Wait until the glue is dry and then just put them on your hands and make a play with the puppets!

Have fun!  Charlie