How to Make Sock Puppets for Kids

Ready to make a puppet

The next time your kids are searching for something to do, head to the laundry room. Gather all your lonesome socks--the ones whose mates were eaten by the dryer--and put them to good use. Kids can let their imaginations run wild as they put some personality into sock puppets. They can create clowns, princesses or maybe even sock versions of themselves.

Things You'll Need

• Sock
• Thin cardboard
• Two buttons or googly eyes
• Ribbon about 2 inches long
• Pencil
• Markers
• Craft glue or glue dots
• Scissors
• Fabric paint (optional)

Instructions

1. 

   Lay your sock on a piece of thin cardboard. The cardboard can be cut from a cereal or cracker box. What it looks like doesn't matter; it's not part of your finished puppet. Trace around the sock with a pencil, cut out the shape and set it aside.

2. Place the sock over your hand so that it fits snugly. Open your hand inside the sock as if the sock was a mitten, with your fingers together and your thumb to the side. Poke the tip of the sock into the space between your thumb and your fingers. Your puppet now has a "mouth." Move your hand so the mouth is closed.

3. 

   Using a marker, make two dots on the puppet where the eyes will go. Make one dot between the low knuckle of your index finger and the low knuckle of your middle finger. The second dot goes between the low knuckles of your ring finger and pinkie.

4. 

   Open your puppet's mouth and make a dot at the back, where the throat would be. This is where you will glue your puppet's tongue.

5. 

   Take the sock off your hand and slip the sock-shaped cardboard inside. This keeps the glue from going through the sock and binding the front and back together. Put a small dot of glue on the back of each button or googly eye and place them over the eye dots you drew on your sock. Let the glue dry for 20 minutes; if you used glue dots, no drying time is needed.

6. 

   Put a small dot of glue on one end of the ribbon and stick it on the dot you made inside the mouth. This is your puppet's tongue. Let the glue dry for 20 minutes.

7. 

   Use markers or fabric paint to add details like nostrils, lips and eyelashes to your puppet.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are right-handed, put the sock on your left hand while you work on it, and vice versa. Add more detail to your puppet with yarn hair or sequin jewelry.

• Children under the age of 3 should not use buttons or googly eyes--they are a choking hazard. Always supervise young children who are using scissors and glue.