Paper Bag Puppet

What You’ll Create

Turn a humble paper bag into a wild, wacky puppet character! 🎭 The secret is the fold at the bottom of the bag — slip your fingers into the flap and it opens and closes like a mouth. Give your puppet a name, a voice, and a personality, then perform a show for the whole family!

How to Set It Up

Step 1: Find the Mouth

Lay a paper bag flat on the table with the closed bottom flap facing upwards — this folded flap will be your puppet’s mouth. Slide four fingers underneath the flap and your thumb below the fold, and practise opening and closing it a few times to feel how the mouth moves. When you open the flap and close it, your puppet is talking! Try it in a mirror to get used to the movement. 👄

Step 2: Draw the Face

Use markers to draw your puppet’s face. Draw two large eyes on the flat area just above the flap — make them round, square, or even spiral-shaped for maximum silliness! Draw a row of teeth on the inner edge of the top flap and another row on the bag body just below the fold. When you open the mouth, the teeth will show and it will look like your puppet is really speaking. Add a nose, rosy cheeks, or freckles for extra personality. 😁

Step 3: Add Hair and Features

Cut long strips and curly spirals of tissue paper using scissors and tape them along the top edge of the bag for wild, colourful hair. Stick googly eyes over your drawn eyes for a hilarious 3D effect. Use leftover tissue paper to make a beard, bushy eyebrows, big ears, or even a paper bow tie — attach everything firmly with tape. 🎨

Step 4: Put On a Show!

Slip your hand fully inside the bag with your four fingers tucked into the top flap and your thumb in the lower fold. Practise making the mouth open and close smoothly. Try a deep, slow voice for a monster or a high squeaky voice for a tiny creature. Kneel behind a sofa or table as your stage and perform a story for an audience. Take a bow! 🌟

Have fun!

• 🎭 Make two or three different puppets for a full cast of characters!
• 📖 Act out a favourite fairy tale with your puppet troupe.
• 🎬 Record a puppet show on a phone or tablet and watch it back.
• 🎨 Give your puppet a paper collar, a crown, or a superhero cape for extra drama.

Why It’s Amazing

• Language Skills: Inventing characters, voices, and stories builds vocabulary, sentence structure, and early narrative thinking. 📖
• Emotional Intelligence: Puppets let children explore feelings and scenarios from a safe distance — they can express emotions through a character that is separate from themselves. 🎭
• Fine Motor Skills: Cutting, sticking, and drawing all develop hand control and precision. ✂️
• Creativity and Imagination: Open-ended character building encourages original thinking and confident self-expression. ⭐

Pro Tips

For ages 3–4: Keep the crafting simple — let them scribble a face and call it done. The performance is the magic at this age, not the decoration.

For ages 4–6: Encourage a backstory: where does the puppet live? What is its favourite food? What problem does it need to solve?

For ages 6+: Challenge them to write a short puppet play with a beginning, middle, and end — and a conflict the characters must overcome. 🎬