How to make puppets with children?
This article deals with the very specific issue of using puppets in the classroom or at home with children. If you are looking for instructions, tutorials, patterns or other info, then use the menu to the right and find something appropriate to your needs.
This is a very popular search term, and it seems there’s quite a number of people out there wanting to either make puppets to perform with for young audiences, or else they’re looking for puppets to make with children in a classroom setting. (You may also want to check out my post on finding puppet companies in Australia or finding puppeteers in Australia. If you’re looking for people to teach your class, or help you to do so, visit the post on puppetry courses in Australia.)
There’s two different things to consider here, so don’t confuse the previous issues: when making puppets for a children’s performance, there’s no other things to consider than the basics of puppet design. You may want to check out some child psychiatry studies on what colours and shapes might be best to use, and how to pass simple concepts and lessons to each child.
But what if you’re making a puppet with children? Are there any guidelines? How is it different from making a puppet by yourself, or with an adult? (Is puppetry just for kids? Read about that here)
First off, it’s a good idea to choose a puppet type that is simple to make. While marionettes are very pretty, and fascinating, they require a certain level of dexterity and building capability that young children won’t possess yet; if you do plan on working with marionettes, I highly recommend using a marionette kit which can be found at craft stores or sold by puppet makers/sellers. These kits are designed to be simple and are an excellent start for working with children. (This post AKA how to make marionette puppets with kids, AKA types of puppets for kids, AKA easy puppets for children free patterns)
Same with muppet-types (that they’re also probably above a child’s skill level, and that some puppet makers offer kits), although a cloth glove puppet or finger puppet suits the skill level very well. But you’re not limited to traditional puppet types - using recycled materials, you can do a range of interesting puppets that are unique to the imagination of the child who makes it. Before setting out any puppet project for a group of children, consider their age, their overall abilities to do craft, and of course, consider how well each individual will work with the materials. You may want to check my post here, which lists all the types of puppets in order from easiest to make and use, to hardest; there’s also a heap of other articles, with how to’s on a variety of puppet building subjects and puppet types; also, there’s a great post on making puppets using recycled materials or making a toy theatre which is ideal for children’s play. Plenty of great and simple puppet patterns and supplies are on sale here!
Naturally, safety is the biggest concern. For more difficult puppet builds, or for any group/individual that you might think needs a headstart, you can pre-prepare materials - even if you have much of the puppets made already, and simply get the kids to add on features or put the parts together. Any classroom project will require a certain amount of planning and preparation; and the more time you have with the group, the more you can do in terms of building and decorating. Do also make sure that any materials and tools will be safe to use.
Puppets and Stuff have some excellent threads on using puppets with younger audiences, including this one on the appropriate age to start doing puppet workshops with kids. There’s plenty of things to consider, so do try to cover all of your bases before getting started: do you need public liability insurance (answer: always yes), a police security check, or any of the other legal formalities? … The biggest concern will be what puppets you build with the group, and how - once you solve that, the details should fall into place. And finally, you should check out the range of puppetry books available at Amazon, because there’s heaps of books aimed at making puppets with kids, as teachers, or as parents.
Want more? Help build a puppet!