Puppet Pals

Crafting together has mental health benefits for kids individually & benefits the parent/child relationship, as well. For a child, making a project like this one can be gratifying & build self-esteem. Working alongside their caregiver, they feel connected & appreciated, especially when they don’t feel pressured to do things exactly “right”. As they work together, they can have healthy conversations about anything – even those difficult topics that might otherwise be hard to discuss.
https://www.onoursleeves.org/mental-wellness-tools-guides/conversation-starters​


SUPPLIES & TOOLS:

• Lunch bags
• Construction paper (various colors)
• Round dot foam brush (multiple sizes)
• Paint (various colors)
• Glue stick
• Scissors
• Markers

DIRECTIONS:

1. Lay the lunch bag with the opening at the bottom and the bottom of the bag at the top. The bottom of the bag flap will be on the front side and this will be the face of the puppet.
2. Use the round dot foam brushes and paint to add fun designs to your bag.
3. While the paint is drying cut out construction paper triangles, circles, horns and more to decorate the face of your puppet.
4. Glue the paper pieces in place with a glue stick.
5. Use markers to add pupils to the eyes and add interest to the paper embellishments.
6. Put your hand into the bag to move the mouth.

JOANN HACKS:

• Try not to use too much paint to saturate the bag completely and distort its shape. If you are worried about this happening with smaller kids you can add a piece of cardboard between the layers to keep any bleeding paint from going through the layers and to help hold the shape of the bag.