Giraffe Paper Bag Puppet
Craft this cute giraffe paper bag puppet using a free template! When you’re done, check out this cow paper bag puppet to add to the animal fun! This post contains affiliate links.
What is it about giraffes that makes them so appealing? Is it their uniquely long necks? Their striking spot design? A little of everything? All I know is that giraffes are always a favorite. Whether it’s at the zoo, in an animal book, or even just going through the alphabet, we’re always zooming in on the giraffe. They are just every kind of awesome.
That’s why we chose the gentle giraffe as the design for this paper bag puppet. Crafting puppets is not only a fun way to exercise fine motor skills and following directions, it also opens up a whole world of storytelling and imaginative play! You can pretend to be at the zoo or on a safari with this friendly giraffe at your side.
I love paper bag puppets because they give children so much fun using only minimal supplies that can fit any budget. You can use pretty much any type of paper (I like cardstock, but construction paper or copy paper work just as well) and other embellishments you have around the house.
If your kids love to color, you can use white paper and have them color in the giraffe themselves! This keeps them entertained for longer if you have a rainy day to fill up.
Once you get started, you can make paper bag puppets in all different designs and create a whole cast of characters for your puppet play. So, let’s gather the materials and get ready to embark on this imaginative safari together!
What You’ll Need
- Colored paper or cardstock
- Paper bag
- Pencil
- Scissors
- Glue
- Markers
- Template – download and print for free at the end of this post
How to make a giraffe paper bag puppet
1. The template includes patterns for the head, horns, ears, lower part of the face, lower body, spots, tail, belly and eyes. Choose colored papers for each of these parts – we used yellow, white, pink, brown, and orange. Trace the template shapes onto the colored papers and cut them out nicely.
2. Glue the inner ear cutouts onto the outer ear cutouts. Use a marker to draw the pupils on the eye cutouts.
3. Glue the ears at the top of the head cutout.
4. Glue the horn shapes to the top of the head, between the ears. Glue the face cutout (for the mouth and nose area) onto the bottom part of the head as shown.
5. Glue the 2 spot cutouts near the top of the head, leaving room for the eyes to go below them.
6. Glue on the eyes to finish up the giraffe’s head.
7. Use a marker to draw the giraffe’s mouth and the nostrils.
8. Glue the tail to the body on one side (it doesn’t matter which side). Glue the belly cutout onto the middle of the bottom of the body, between the legs.
9. Glue spots to the body wherever you’d like. You can even cut out more spots to put in more places if you want.
10. Take your paper bag and position it so the opening is at the bottom, facing toward you. The part that would be the bottom if you were using it as a bag is going to be the top of the puppet.
11. Glue the giraffe’s body to one of the large flat sides of the paper bag. The legs should point toward the open end of the bag on bottom.
12. Flatten the bottom of the bag (which is now on top) toward you. Glue the giraffe’s head to the flat bottom of the bag.
Pop the bag over your hand to make your giraffe puppet come alive! If you’ve used a glue stick it should be ready to play with very soon. If you used liquid glue, let it dry flat for a little while first.
Your giraffe paper bag puppet is complete! When you’re done, check out more of our paper puppets to craft and play!
Download the Giraffe Paper Bag Puppet
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