How Do You Make a Paper Bag Bat Puppet?

Simple skills such as cutting and pasting are all you need.

Paper bag puppets are easy for even young children to make. Cutting, gluing, painting and stapling are the only skills required for a quick and simple hand-made puppet. This craft can be made with recycled materials such as lunch bags, paper coffee bean bags, felt scraps and used suit buttons. Bat paper bag puppets are not only fun to create but they are fun to play with. Children can act out their own Halloween stories with paper bag bat puppets.

Things You'll Need

• Paper bag
• White and black construction paper
• Pink felt
• Pink chenille pipe cleaners
• Glue
• Stapler
• Black two-hole button

Instructions

1. 

   You can paint the bag black.

   Paint the bag black or glue black construction paper onto the bag in sections to cover it. The side with the flap (the bottom of the bag when it is filled) will be the front of the bat. The totally smooth side of the bag will be the back. The flap will be the face and under the flap will be the mouth.

2. 

   Make bat eyes out of construction paper.

   Glue two eyes onto the flap for the face. Select wiggly eyes or cut two bat-eye shapes out of white paper and glue on. Fill in the pupils and irises with black and green, brown or blue markers.

3. 

   Staple on the ears.

   Cut two triangles from black construction paper for the ears and staple them on the top of the flap. Line the ears with pink chenille pipe cleaners or pink construction paper.

4. 

   Use a black button with two "nostrils."

   Glue a round nose just below the eyes. Make the nose from construction paper or use a black button with two holes for the nostrils.

5. Attach two white triangles upside down near the outer edges of the bottom of the flap for the fangs. Glue a pink felt tongue under the flap in the crease so that it only shows when the mouth is moving.

6. 

   Draw bat wings onto black construction paper.

   Draw two bat wings onto black construction paper and cut out. Glue the wings onto the sides of the bag in the crease. Attach black construction paper feet to the bottom of the front of the bag.

Tips & Warnings

• Choose a brown lunch bag and skip the paint or covering with construction paper step for an easy brown bat.

• Paint will crack if applied too heavily. Apply paint with a light touch.

References

• DLTK Kids: Paper Bag Bat Craft

Resources

• First School: Paper Bag Puppets Crafts