Clothespin Paper Puppets – free printable
Make these sweet, colorful, and quirky paper puppets using clothespins – aren’t they precious? M had the time of his life holding a conversation between the two… You can get really creative with these and then use the leftovers to make dozens more clothespin crafts. Disclosure: this post contains affiliate ads.
I thought it would be cool to make some quirky character puppets out of clothespins, so that you can open and close the mouth by pinching the clothespin. I must have drawn the template five times before I realized that I need to do a profile view instead of a front view…
Once I had it figured out, it came out really cute. I love a craft where you can get creative and add your own touch. Besides for choosing which colors you make these paper puppets, you can also pick the wildest hair colors, add accessories like googly eyes and small pompom noses… the possibilities are endless!
The hair is made similarly to how you’d make a pompom but you just wrap the yarn fewer times, so that it doesn’t puff into a circle. On the purple-haired puppet, I wrapped three fingers but tied it 1/3 of the way through instead of halfway so that you have “long” hair. On the others I did it mostly midway so that there’s a puff of hair on top.
I colored the paper puppets using STABILO Power markers. I chose for the most part unrealistic colors for the faces and noses, to give it a fun character/monster vibe. M really had fun holding fake conversations between them!
You can make the puppets two-sided if you want (I did with the orange-haired and the blue-faced ones). I included opposite-facing profiles for you in case you want to do that, but you will need to wait for one side to dry before moving on to the next.
These clothespin puppets really ignite the imagination – I hope you’ll enjoy them!
What you need to make paper puppets from clothespins
- The template printed on card stock (download it at the end of this post)
- Clothespins
- Markers
- Yarn
- Scissors
- Glue – I recommend Alene’s Tacky Glue or Elmer’s craft wood glue.
- Optional: googly eyes
How to make quirky clothespin paper puppets
Watch the video tutorial below, or scroll down for step-by-step instructions:
1. Color your faces.
2. Cut out your faces.
3. Cut across the line that splits the face in half.
4. Create your hair! Wind some yarn around 2-3 fingers. Snip a small piece and tie it around the bundle of yarn in the center (or off-center). Pull tight.
Cut the loops open on both sides of your “pom pom”.
5. Glue your hair to the top of your face.
6. Add googly eyes and other fun stuff if you want.
7. Put it together! Glue the top of the face to the top half of your clothespin. Glue the bottom to the bottom half. Make sure you don’t glue the clothespin closed. Hold it in place until it starts sticking.
Now, put on a show!
Aren’t these paper puppets fun? I love this spin on clothespin crafts and I hope you’ve enjoyed it too!
Download the Clothespin Puppet Templates
To download, fill out the form below. You’ll be signed up for our free newsletter – unsubscribe at any time in the footer of the emails. I respect your privacy and the law and won’t share your information with anyone.
I hope you enjoyed these clothespin puppets! What is your favorite way to craft with clothespins? Comment below!
Clothespin Paper Puppets
These clothespin puppets make a fun craft for preschoolers through big kids. Use it for dramatic play, to exercise fine motor skills, or just make it for fun!
Materials
- Clothespins
- Markers
- Yarn
- Scissors
- Glue
- Optional: googly eyes
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
This looks great. I’m going to use it with my year threes for English. I can’t locate the template though. It’s probably staring me in the face. Would you mind either emailing it to me or giving me simple directions to locate it. Thanks Pauline
HI Pauline, I emailed you.
What a fun, fun, fun idea! I’m going to do this with my grandkids at our family reunion next week!!
Hi Nina, I hope you all enjoy it!
I just love this idea. My grandson loves playing with my clothes pegs He will love it even more when they are decorated.
Thank you so much.
I hope you enjoy these!
Totally making these with my little nieces. Looks like lots of fun and also a great way to use some yarn scraps. Thanks!
I hope you have a lot of fun with it!
This is such an adorable idea! Sharing and Pinning! Thank you! 🙂 Lisa
Thank you for sharing, Lisa! I hope you enjoy!
How cute, thank u for sharing with us
Do you put faces on both sides of clothes pin? Thank you. Great fun idea for kids.
Hi Barbara, thank you for stopping by! I did on some! It really depends how you’ll be using it. If you plan to put on a puppet show, you probably should, since then the puppets can face either direction. If it’s being used as a learning tool (language, communication, music, pincer grasp, etc) or just for the sake of making a cute craft, you really don’t need to. I did provide mirror images of each face in case you want to do both sides.
Thanks so much! Fun, & easy instructions to follow! Thanks to you
👍😉
I made these with my Sunday School Class and inside the mouth, we did accordine folded bible verses as the tongue. We did a lesson on spreading God’s word. I would love to send you a photo if possible?
I received your photos – it’s beautiful and I’m so grateful that you sent it! I love your adaptation!
So cute! I too tried to download the template, but could not do it. Would you mind sending it to my email please. I would love to do this with my granddaughter. Thank you!
Rebecca Lumsden
Hi Rebecca, I emailed it to you, please let me know if you still do not receive it! I hope you and your granddaughter have lots of fun with these 🙂
I am gonna do this craft at our playgrounp, it looks so much fun
thankyou for these they are good for adults with demenia too
Hello! You sent the link to my email but couldn’t download them. Any ideas? Thanks!
HI Amy! It could be it expired if you didn’t download right away? Or your firewall is blocking it? Either way, you can email me at [email protected] and I’ll make sure you get it.
hello
love it.
where the video of making it gones?
can you send link?
thnaks
Hi Zohar! Here is the video: https://www.facebook.com/MenuchaDesign/videos/1365846723463530/
What a fun, fun, fun idea! I’m going to do this with my brother and sister
I would like to do this with my class of poor kids in the slums. but here is no template and I have 50 kids.
Hi Sarah, The download form is right in the middle of the supplies list. If you’re having trouble with it, feel free to email me at menucha -at- momsandcrafters – dot-com. I do allow classroom use for this.
These are going into my grandsons advent calendar. He will love making them.
Such a great idea – Hope he enjoys!
Hola. Me encantaron tus títeres. Leí que probaste varias veces para ver cómo debías hacer las caras. Mirándolos se me ocurrió que si quieres hacerlos vistos desde el frente, tendrías que colocar el palillo en la otra posición, pegando la cara donde abre el palillo, y así te quedaría el rostro abriendo la boca de frente. Voy a intentarlo. Gracias por compartir la idea.
Hi Rossana,
That is quite a brilliant idea! I actually have another design of these in the works, and I will try it that way with the new design. Thanks for your comment!
Adorable craft. Where can I find the template to pint?
Scroll to the “materials” there is a form to download the template. Email me at menucha – at -momsandcrafters – dot com if you need help!
Made some of these with one of my grandsons during the christmas holidays,we have 10 grandchildren so as one more saw it they wanted them so I can just about make these in my sleep.they had great fun making them and it was great fun listening to then putting on a show with them
Hi Jude, thank you for your comment! I love hearing when kids enjoy this <3
can you please email me the template
Hi Anne, please email me at [email protected] and I’ll send it right over.
Hi there These are so cute but I cannot download the template. Would you mind sending this to me? Thanks so much
Hi Anne, please email me at [email protected] and I’ll send it right over.
Hello! We are trying to do this project but the download is not working. Can you email me at [email protected]?
I’ve fixed the form – there was a glitch. It should work now but if you’re still having trouble, please email me [email protected] – I take care of sending downloads as I work through my inbox.