Puppet Making Pack

Over the years we have made many different puppets for children in hospital using lots of materials. These puppets have often incorporated found materials from the environment around us. Here are some of our favourite puppets!

Rod Puppet
This puppet can be placed on the end of a long rod at a right angle and moved across a stage (or bedside table or tray) easily. You might also like to try Stick Puppets which are a smaller version of a rod puppet. You can make these using upright lollipop sticks and felt or card. They are handy for ‘Punch and Judy’ type stages where they can pop up and down.

Glove Puppet
Build a puppet on a sock. This one will require fabric glue or another strong adhesive. Be careful when choosing your adhesive in case of toxic fumes.

Finger Puppets
Take a piece of card and cut out two holes to fit index and middle fingers to be the legs of the puppet. Outline the shape of a puppet around the holes and decorate. These puppets are really good for football and dancing-themed play.

Wrist Puppet
These puppets are great for children with limited mobility in their hands and / or fingers. Part of the performance can be building the puppet on the child, following their directions on what decorations to use.

Shadow Puppet
These puppets consist of cutout shapes in card that typically perform behind a paper or cloth that is back lit so their shadows are projected onto the performance space.

Handy Materials for Puppet Making

• Socks
• Card
• White craft glue (non-toxic version e.g. PVA)
• Moving Eyes
• Felt
• Wool
• Fabric
• Pipe Cleaners
• Feathers
• Disposable Cups
• Scissors
• Craft Knives
• Assorted tapes
• Disposable Cutlery
• Napkins
• Plasticine (assorted colours)
• Clay modelling

Play Techniques

Bringing a puppet to life can be done in small stages and is lots of fun. When you have finished making puppets with your child, try out the following together:

• Make the puppet perform a breathing motion, rising and falling gently with breath.
• Make the puppet ‘wake up’ i.e. roll, move, stretch, yawn, smack tongue against teeth, open eyes/make eye contact with audience, jerk awake, shake out.
• Make the puppet do exercises – touch its toes, do star jumps, do scissors jumps, jog on the spot, do yoga poses etc.
• Make the puppet walk – choose different kinds of gaits e.g. stroll, canter, dash, race, sidestep, dance, drag feet, jog etc.
• Practice different expressions/gestures and tones of voice according to moods e.g. sadness, happiness, excitement, joy, anger, despair, boredom, indignation, fear, surprise, shock, calm, impatient, giddy etc.

You might like to develop a puppetry performance to perform for family or friends. Here are some tips!

• Brainstorm a story theme
• Outline the main events of the story through improvisation or by using a storyboard
• Improvise or write a script
• Allocate roles
• Rehearse the story and adapt as ideas for improvement are developed
• Gather materials for construction of puppets, props and maybe even a simple stage
• Perform a preview for healthcare staff (the play specialists might pass on their own tips!)
• Incorporate feedback in adjustments to the performance
• Perform for family / friends
• Puppets take a bow

Why make puppets? At Helium, our puppet-making with children in hospital has shown us that puppet play has lots of benefits:

• Play and self-expression opportunities
• Fun physical exchange
• Prevention of feelings of isolation
• Bonding time for parent and child
• Humour, originality and spontaneity
• Channels for creative energy and artistic expression
• Enhanced memories

Accessibility

Puppets are adaptable – there are lots of ways to make and play with puppets that will suit children with restricted mobility or physical limitations.

For children with reduced strength, select light materials that they can move easily. For example, you can create puppets very easily with muslin fabric or tissue paper attached to string or pipe cleaners. Our puppet friend above was created from a white gauze bandage by a young patient on our Puppet Portal Project.

Alternatively, you can ‘build’ a puppet on a child’s hand or foot directly using a sock, glove or slipper, adding all the features of a puppet the child would like to add and interacting with the puppet as it develops. This works especially well with bed or wheelchair-bound children.

Puppet performances can happen anywhere that is most convenient for children to play or perform on e.g. a bedside table on wheels or a tray that can be placed on a wheelchair.