How to Make a Sea Gull Puppet
Seagulls are scavenger birds common to Northern America, easily recognizable by their simple white and grey coloring and often loud presence. Children may enjoying watching seagulls at the beach. While it is not safe to interact with these animals in the wild, children can enjoy playing with sock puppets that look like their feathered friends.
Things You'll Need
- Egg carton
- Scissors
- Yellow paint
- Paintbrush
- Red marker
- Black marker
- White sock
- Grey paint
Instructions
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1
Cut off the top and flap of the egg carton and discard.
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2
Orient the remaining egg carton tray with egg divots and spikes horizontally. Cut vertically, starting from the second egg divot to the left. You will cut through a vertical pair of divots, leaving the leftmost vertical pair, a spike, and half of the next vertical pair.
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3
Cut around the base of the spike and discard the rest.
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4
Poke a hole in the tip of the spike with a scissor blade and cut down one ridge of the spike, being careful to stop 1/2 inch before the base. Do not cut through the whole spike.
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5
Repeat on the opposite side's ridge.
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6
Paint the beak yellow.
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7
Draw a thin black ring around the tip of the beak.
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8
Draw a small red dot on the underside of the beak toward the tip.
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9
Cut a 1 1/2-inch slit in the toe of a white sock.
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10
Insert beak, pointed side first, into the other end of the sock, pushing it through the slit until the larger base is stuck within the sock.
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11
Apply hot glue between the beak and sock on the inside of the slit to secure.
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12
Draw two black dots on either side on the top of the sock for eyes.
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13
Paint gray ovals on either side of the sock near the heel for wings.
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14
To animate the puppet, ball your hand into a fist and insert into the end of the sock. Move wrist to move the head of the seagull.
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1
Tips & Warnings
Look for egg cartons with taller spikes for a more beak-like shape.
For a more comic look, glue on googly eyes from a craft store instead of drawing on eyes.
Using one blade of the scissors to make a hole in the spike requires careful handling of the scissors. It is not recommended to encourage children to use scissors in this manner.
