How to Make a Bird Puppet Easily

You can save a lot of money by making homemade toys for your children. However, very few people today have time for complicated craft projects. You can make this simple bird puppet very quickly and easily out of a sock and a cardboard cereal box. The finished bird puppet will provide you and your child with hours of amusement for very little expense. Consider making several of these bird puppets and creating a puppet theater out of cardboard so that you can put on a complete puppet show in your home.

Things You'll Need

• Cardboard box
• Scissors
• Straight edge ruler
• Craft blade
• Paper
• Craft glue
• Sock
• Yellow craft paint
• Duct tape
• Wiggle eyes
• Hot glue

Instructions

1. 

   Cut out part of the front and side panels of a cereal box. Draw on the unfinished side of the cardboard, as shown in the image that accompanies this step. Repeat these steps to create an identical cardboard piece. Cut out the cardboard along the solid lines. These cardboard segments will become the bird puppet's beak.

2. 

   Place the puppet's beak segments down on a piece of scrap cardboard. Lay a straight edge ruler over the dotted line and score along the line with a craft blade.

3. 

   Fold over the bird's beak segments so that the two long ends touch. Cut a strip of paper that is the same length as the beak. Place glue on one side of the paper, and adhere it to the inside of the beak segment to connect these ends.

4. 

   Cut off an old sock several inches away from the toe. Discard the toe piece of the sock and keep the rest to create the body of the bird puppet.

5. 

   Paint the beak segments yellow with craft paint. Allow them to dry completely before continuing.

6. 

   Cut a short strip of duct tape. Attach it to the inner surface of the beak segments to connect them together.

7. 

   Fold the cut edge of the sock inward by 2 inches. Apply hot glue to the outside of the puppet's beak segment. Place the beak on the inside of the sock where you turned the material in and press down to secure the glue.

8. 

   Attach the wiggle eyes with hot glue. Draw two nostrils on the bird's beak with a permanent marker.

9. 

   Place your fingers inside the upper segment of the bird puppet's beak and your thumb in the lower segment. Raise your fingers upward and lower your thumb to make the puppet appear to talk.

Tips & Warnings

• If there's any excess sock material, glue the beak on at the top and glue the excess material together underneath the beak.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Craft paints
• Craft blades
• Straight edge rulers