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DLTK's Crafts for Kids
Paper Bag Phoenix Craft

This phoenix is a simple puppet craft that is fun for young children to make.  It makes a great project for preschool and kindergarten kids and works well with various fantasy books or a Greek mythology theme.

Materials Needed:

bulleta paper lunch bag 
bulletred paint or red paper
  
bulleta printer, 
bulletsome crayons, 
bulletscissors 
bulletglue, 
bulletpaper for the printer

Optional:

bulletbig wiggly eyes
  

What is the Phoenix?

In Greek mythology, the phoenix was a bird that lived in Arabia.  Each morning the phoenix would awake and bath in a well near its roost.  While it bathed, it sang a beautiful song that the sun god Apollo stopped to hear each dawn before he drove his sun chariot across the sky.

According to the myth, only one phoenix existed on earth at a time. When it grew old, the phoenix would build a nest of myrrh.  The phoenix would settle its tired, aging body into the center of the nest which would burst into flames when the sun rose.  The phoenix would be consumed by the flames and from the ashes of the ancient bird, a new phoenix would be reborn.

PRINT THE TEMPLATE:

bulletPrint out the template of choice (color or b&w)
bulletColour (as required) and cut out the template pieces. 


GET FAMILIAR WITH YOUR PAPER BAG:

bulletI'm going to walk through this slowly.  Look at your paper bag. 
bulletIt should be closed and flat like a piece of paper.  Just like when they are brand new.
bulletOn one side, it's all smooth.  This will be the BACK of your puppet
bulletIt's important that all the kids get the back and front straight at the beginning!
bulletOn the other side there's a flippy tab (which is typically the bottom of the bag when you're carrying your lunch around...)
bulletThis flippy tab will be the HEAD
bulletLift the flippy tab up a bit.  Underneath of the tab will be the mouth,
bulletWhen the child puts her hand in the bag, she'll be able to make the puppet talk.
bulletLook 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.
bulletLook at the sides of the bag.  There should be a FLAP of paper. 
bulletWe'll be slipping the wings into this flap.
bulletIf the kids goof and glue the wings onto the front or back of the bag, it isn't a big deal.
bulletOK, now that we're comfy with our bags, let's craft!
  
  

Assemble your puppet:

bulletCover the FLAP of the paper bag with white paper (just glue it on and trim) or paint it white and let dry.
  
bulletGlue the feather tuft to the top of the HEAD  
  
bulletGlue the eyes onto the HEAD just under the feathers.  If you like, you can use wiggly eyes instead of the paper template pieces.
  
bulletGlue the beak under the eyes.  It will likely hang down over a little bit of the BODY.  Make sure you just put glue on top of the beak (where it touches the HEAD) so you don't end up gluing the mouth shut.
  
bulletGlue the wings into the FLAP.
  
bulletGlue the feet onto the bottom of the BODY
  
bulletGlue the tail onto the BACK
 

 

Printing the Template:

bulletClose the template window after printing to return to this screen.
    
bulletSet page margins to zero if you have trouble fitting the template on one page (FILE, PAGE SETUP or FILE, PRINTER SETUP in most browsers).

Template 1:    (color)   or   (B&W)

Template 2:    (color)   or   (B&W)

Template 3:    (color)   or   (B&W)

 

 

Printable version of these instructions

 

 

Phoenix themed stories from Amazon.com (USA)

or from Amazon.ca (Canada)

The Order of the Phoenix and other Harry Potter stories

The Order of the Phoenix and other Harry Potter stories

Phoenix graphic novels by Osamu Tezuka

Phoenix graphic novels by Osamu Tezuka

I Am Phoenix: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman

I Am Phoenix: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman