Making Dummy Puppets

Making dummy puppets is inexpensive and relatively easy.

Making a dummy puppet saves money and gives the puppeteer the satisfaction of making an original creation. Children love puppets from television, and puppet creators can use their original puppets to entertain children for hours. Puppet shows are a rewarding and creative way to entertain an audience and teach lessons. After a small initial investment in dummy puppets, the entertainment does not require any further expense. Controlling dummy puppets takes less skill than controlling ventriloquist dummies or marionettes. Very little training or skill is required to build and animate original dummy puppets.

Things You'll Need

• Large styrofoam ball
• Small styrofoam ball
• Elastic fleece
• Puppet clothes
• Newspaper
• 2 Large buttons
• Wig
• 6 inch square of poster board
• Black felt
• Red felt
• Hot glue
• Carving knife
• Plastic wand

Instructions

Head

1. Sculpt a basic shape from the large styrofoam ball using the knife to dig out holes for the eyes. Flatten the bottom of the ball to create the upper jaw, and create a hole in the back of the head for your hand.

2. Glue the fleece to the sculpted styrofoam to give the face skin. Use any color you like, such as orange, red or blue.

3. Attach the small styrofoam ball to the face to make the nose. Sculpt the nose to your desired shape, or simply use the ball how it is. Cover the nose with a small patch of the fleece.

4. Glue the buttons into the eyes sockets. These can be any color but should stand out against the skin tone. Other items also serve well as eyes, such as bottle caps and store-bought goggle eyes.

5. Trim the poster board into a semi-circle and cover it with fleece, leaving a pocket underneath for your thumb. Glue black and red felt to the fleece to create a mouth with a tongue. Glue black felt above the eyes to make eyebrows.

6. Glue the lower jaw to the upper jaw. Ensure that enough fabric hangs down from the jaw to make the neck.

Body

1. Glue the puppet neck into the collar of a T-shirt for the body. Fill the T-shirt with crumpled newspaper. Any other stuffing you choose will work, but newspaper will keep down the cost.

2. Trace around your hand with a pen over a section of the fleece, holding your middle finger and forefinger together and your ring finger and pinkie together. This way, the pattern on the fabric will have three fingers.

3. Cut out four pieces of fleece from this pattern, sewing together two sets of two pieces to make three-fingered hands. Fill them with stuffing.

4. Dress the puppet in a long-sleeve shirt, and fill the sleeves with stuffing. Glue the hands to the sleeves.

5. Glue the wig to the puppet's head, and attach the plastic wand to one of the hands to control it. Attach wands to both hands if you intend to alternate the puppet hand you are controlling.

Tips & Warnings

• If a wig is unavailable or too expensive, a hat or cap can be used as a substitute. Leave out the glue if you plan to wear the hat ever again.

• Make the puppet look friendly if its purpose is to entertain children. Give it big, round eyes and rounded eyebrows. Making a puppet scary by mistake is easy to do and can cause children stress.

References

• Elementary Web Tech: Puppets