Hanukkah Puppets
These cute puppets are simple to make. The samples in the picture are based on Latkaland characters, but you can make the puppets into any character that you would like. They would make great Maccabees for Hanukkah!
For 1 puppet, you will need:
a styrofoam ball
a popsicle stick
a styrofoam cup
a pair of googly eyes
a bit of yarn (for hair)
a couple of pipecleaners (one sparkly)
glue
Optional: fabric scraps, ribbon, cardboard scraps
1. Put some glue on the end of the popsicle stick and push it into the styrofoam ball. If it won’t go, have a grown up make a small slit in the ball using a scissor. Now you have the Hanukkah (or other) puppet head.
2. Decorate your head. Glue on the googly eyes (or draw your own version) and draw a nose and mouth. Glue on some yarn for hair. If you’d like, add a felt kippah or a foil helmet.
3. Decorate the styrofoam cup, which will be the puppet body. You can cover the cup with glue and wrap fabric around it (as we did in the picture) or colour it with markers and add some stickers. If you are using fabric, have a grownup figure out where the pipecleaner arms will go, and make two small cuts in the fabric before glueing it onto the cup. You can also add a cape or ribbon or other decorations…it’s up to you.
4. Push a pipecleaner through the cup (and the holes in the fabric). Now your puppet has arms. Trim the pipecleaner so that the arms are the right length – but remember to leave room to bend the ends into hands.
5. Make a sword out of the glittery pipecleaner (use about 1/3 of the pipecleaner) and a shield out of the cardboard if you’d like. You can attach the shield to your puppet by punching two small holes through the cardboard and pushing the pipecleaner hand through.
6. Cut a small slit in the top of the cup, and push the popsicle stick through so that the head sits on top of the cup. Your puppet will be able to move it’s head from side to side and up and down (with your help, of course!). Make these with friends for Hanukkah – and make up your own Hanukkah puppet show.
