Episode 22 of my local t.v. show was about making sock puppets
. My guest was Bonnie Rankin, a local storyteller. We had a blast making sock puppets out of items that we already had at home. This is a great project do do with your kids this summer. These are the 2 puppets that I made during the show.
The white one is a short sock. Her eyes and mouth were painted on with puffy paint. Her hair is a wrapped and tied novelty yarn that is glued on with a hot glue gun. Two purple pom pom like things from the novelty yarn are her nostrils. A long, skinny scrap of purple fabric was tied around her neck like a scarf. I think she looks like Carla from Cheers.
The pink one is a knee high sock. Her eyes are lima beans with dots (from a sharpie) on them for the pupils. They are glued on in different directions (one horizontal and one vertical). Her nose is a heart cut out from felt with two black dots drawn on for nostrils. I wrapped two pieces of chenille stems around a pencil and glued them to the top of her head. I used a hot glue gun for all of the glueing. Then I took a fake flower, cut it, and glued it on her head as well. Bonnie said that she looks like a dragon.
The inside of the pink one's mouth is a piece of black fabric (the back side of a printed fabric) and a pink paper clip for the tongue. While wearing the white one, I drew the inside of the mouth with a sharpie. Then I used some puffy paint and a paint brush to paint over the sharpie later on. It took a full 24 hours for the paint to dry completely.
It was a lot of fun creating these fun sock puppets. We just gathered various scraps and odds and ends from around our homes to use in making them. We did not buy a thing. Bonnie also brought in a sock puppet theater that she had made from a discarded cardboard box, some construction paper, and fabric. All of those things she already had in her house.
What a fun summer craft or rainy day activity for you and your kids to make. Just think of the possibilities: make the puppets, make a theater, write a play, preform the play, etc.
