How to Make Wooden Puppets
Wooden puppets, or marionettes, are a lot of fun for kids and adults. Learning to manipulate one can be a challenging task that requires lots of practice, but can be very rewarding in the end. Once you've mastered the skills, these wooden puppets can be utilized for family entertainment as well as in educational applications. You might even use them to entertain at the next children's birthday party. Children love to learn while watching a puppet act out the situation. Making wooden puppets can be a family project.
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Things You'll Need
- Jig saw
- Sand Paper
- Plywood
- Dowel rods
- Flat sticks
- Screw thread eye bolts
- Chain
- String
- Paint
Instructions
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1
Cut out the shape of a torso with head from the plywood using a jig saw. For a simple design, use a rectangle for the body with an attached circle on top for the head. Also cut out simple, mitten-shaped hands and sock-shaped feet. Sand the edges to make them smooth.
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2
Cut the dowel rods into 8 sections. This will make 2 pairs of arms and legs, where each limb has 2 sections. You should end up with 2 thighs, 2 shins, 2 upper arms and 2 lower arms.
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3
Screw in the eye bolts where each joint is. Screw in a pair at the torso's shoulder for attaching the arms and at the bottom for the legs. Put a pair in the top and bottom section of every cut dowel rod so the rods can be connected together. Also screw in eye bolts to the tops of the hands, feet and top of the head.
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4
Connect the pieces using links from the chain. The chain must be large enough that a link can be removed and hooked around 2 eye bolts to connect the two pieces. Connect the figure, linking an upper arm to the shoulder, a lower arm to the upper arm, and a hand to the lower arm. Do the same for the legs and feet, connecting the thighs to the bottom of the torso.
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5
Paint the puppet, giving him facial features and painted clothing.
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6
Take the two flat sticks and make an X with them. Glue the sticks together.
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7
Screw in eye bolts at the ends of the sticks. Put one eye bolt in the center for the head attachment. You'll need 4 eye bolts for connecting string for the hands and feet .
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8
Tie pieces of string to the eye bolts atop the feet, hands and top of the head. You'll have to adjust the length of the strings so the puppet can hang straight without bunching up the limbs.
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9
Tie the other ends of the string, adjusting as needed for movement and hang, to the eye bolts on the control sticks.
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