How to Glue on a Puppet's Mouth Board

A puppet's mouth board is made out of hard cardboard and is used to give a firm shape to the mouth of the puppet. It also helps the puppeteer hold his hand in the proper position within the puppet's mouth. Once you have satisfactorily placed a puppet's mouth board into its mouth, the next step is to glue the mouth board firmly in place. Without gluing the mouth board in place, the mouth board can simply fall out of place and make the puppet hard to use. Follow these simple steps to glue the mouth board onto a puppet.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Puppet with mouth board in place
• Hot glue gun with glue
• Cool water

1. Use a hot glue gun to place a small amount of hot glue around the puppet’s mouth board to glue the upper and lower fleece lips to the mouth board. Be careful to glue all around the mouth board, or it may not stay in place properly during your puppet show.

2. Dab your finger into a small amount of cool water and run your finger around the upper and lower edges of the mouth board where you applied the hot glue in Step 1. The application of water will help the hot glue dry quickly, and it helps prevent you from burning your finger when touching areas with hot glue.

3. Allow the hot glue to dry completely. When the hot glue has dried, you can then put your hand in the puppet and try out the new mouth.

Tips & Warnings

• Avoid using too much hot glue when gluing on the mouth board or your puppet can look sloppy.
• Be careful when working with hot glue to avoid burns.