DLTK's Crafts for Kids
Paper Bag Horse Craft

Contributed by Leanne Guenther

Puppets have been around for thousands of years in many different cultures. In my opinion, they're still lots of fun to play with! You can use them for free play or as props while telling a story or singing a song.

This horse paper bag puppet is great for songs like Old MacDonald and for reading stories like Artie Knapp's "Sprinting Spencer" or our favorite First Nations (Native American) picture book The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses.

Materials:

a paper lunch bag
a printer,
some crayons,
scissors,
glue,
paper for the printer

Optional:

big wiggly eyes
paper bags are brown so don't need to be painted for a horse, but you're welcome to paint your bag whatever color you would like your horse to be!

Print the Template:

Color (as required) and cut out the template pieces.

Get Familiar with Your Paper Bag:

I'm going to walk through this slowly. Look at your paper bag.
It should be closed and flat like a piece of paper. Just like when they are brand new.
On one side, it's all smooth. This will be the BACK of your puppet.
- It's important that all the kids get the back and front straight at the beginning!
On the other side there's a flippy tab (which is typically the bottom of the bag when you're carrying your lunch around...)
- This flippy tab will be the HEAD.
Lift the flippy tab up a bit. Underneath of the tab will be the mouth,
- When the child puts her hand in the bag, she'll be able to make the puppet talk.
Look at the rest of the front of the bag. (The 3/4 or so of the bag below the part with the flippy tab) This will be the BODY.
Look at the sides of the bag. There should be a FLAP of paper.
- We'll be slipping the arms (template 2) into this flap.
- If the kids goof and glue the arms onto the front or back of the bag, it isn't a big deal.
OK, now that we're comfy with our bags, let's craft!

Template #1

Glue the muzzle (nose) onto the HEAD. It should overlap the body quite a bit.
Glue the mouth underneath the flippy tab so you can see part of the bottom sticking out from under the muzzle.
Glue the eyes onto the HEAD. If you like, you can use wiggly eyes instead of the paper template pieces.
Glue the ears onto the top of the HEAD.
Glue the hair onto the top of the HEAD between the ears.
Glue the arms into the FLAP.
Glue the tail onto the BACK so that the colorful side can be seen when looking at the puppet.

Templates: