How to Make a Ballerina Finger Puppet

Finger puppets offer a double dose of entertainment. First, enjoy making a ballerina finger puppet in a few simple steps. Then have fun with the finished product as you put on a ballerina finger puppet show. You can use materials in your home for an inexpensive and eco-friendly recycled craft. One glove can be made into five finger puppets for an entire ballet of dancers.

Things You'll Need

• One child's glove (pink or skin tone)
• Scissors
• Fabric glue
• Fabric paint
• Yarn
• Pipe cleaners (pink or skin tone)
• Scraps of tulle, bobbinet or other stiff, mesh fabric
• Pom-pom (brown, blond, black, red)
• Seed beads, multicolored

Instructions

Making a Ballerina Finger Puppet

1. Cut each finger from the child's glove as close to the palm as possible. Trim the bottom of each finger to make an even edge. Cut the thumb from the glove and trim the bottom.

2. Place one of the finger tubes on your finger. Mark where you want the ballerina's tutu to be. The tutu should rest about the middle knuckle of your finger. Remove the finger tube and lay it flat on a work surface. Wrap a scrap of tulle, bobbinet or other tutu material around the finger at the mark. Allow the ends to overlap on the back of the finger and trim the excess. Glue the tutu to the finger puppet material and allow it to dry.

3. Choose a color of pipe cleaner to represent the ballerina puppet's arms. If you use a pink glove, use pink arms. If you use a skin-tone glove, try to match the pipe cleaner to the skin tone. Cut a 4-inch piece of pipe cleaner. Place the center of the pipe cleaner to the back of the finger about 1/2 inch above the tutu. Wrap the ends of the pipe cleaner around the finger once or twice until an inch sticks out on either side of the finger. Squirt a drop of fabric glue under the pipe cleaner to secure it.

4. Use fabric paint to add facial features to the "fingerprint" part of the glove finger. Add red circles of paint on the cheeks for blush and red lips. Use color for ballerina stage make-up so the features are visible from a distance. Draw a tank top on the ballerina's torso from the top of the tutu to her neckline. Glue seed beads around the neck area for a necklace.

5. Lay the finger face down on the work space. Glue strands of yarn to the back of the ballerina's head for long hair. Or glue a circle of felt topped with a small pom-pom on the back of the head for a ballerina hair bun. Let the hair dry completely. Place the ballerina finger puppet on your finger and wiggle it around to make it move. Complete each of the remaining four cut finger puppets to present a full finger puppet ballet.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep the colors simple to look best from a distance.

• Do not give these finger puppets to toddlers or babies because they could pose a choking hazard.