Finger puppets provide endless hours of fun for children. They help develop a child's creativity, imagination and confidence. Finger puppets are a great accompaniment to nursery rhymes and stories. And they are SO easy to make - a few scraps of felt and a bit of stitching.
You actually don't need a pattern - just a rough shape that will fit over a finger and a little imagination. They can be hand sewn or machine stitched, as long as all the little bits are well secured.
You can see my robot finger puppets are pretty rough and ready, but that doesn't matter to kids. My main aim was to have them look like robots, and of course to make sure all the little embellishments would stay put during lots of play.
I've looked through the Softies, Dolls & Toys link party, here at Threading My Way, to show you several more finger puppets.
Princess Finger Puppets + Felt Bags from Being Inspired - made using the Disney Princess Finger Puppets tutorial by Made It On Monday
Hand Sewn Robot Finger Puppets ~ Tutorial by Ellen, from Create in the Chaos
Ninja Finger Puppet ~ Pattern & Tutorial by Amy, from While Wearing Heels
Turkey Finger Puppets by Sandra, from Sandra Sews - made using the Thanksgiving Turkey Finger Puppets tutorial by Frog Prince Paperie
Nativity Finger Puppets ~ Pattern & Tutorial by Joy, from xoxo Grandma
I'm sure by looking at these clever creations, you can come up with your own ideas - or get the kids to help you.
As with any toy, finger puppets need to be age appropriate (definitely not suitable for babies or very young children), and checked regularly to make sure nothing has come loose, especially if glue is used, either in place of stitching, or for eyes, embellishments, etc. Personally, I prefer sewing all the pieces together. With young children, supervision at all times is a must!
If your child is still at that stage of putting things in their mouth, save finger puppets till they're a little older.
I have several sets of finger puppets here for the little people that come to visit. Most of them were bought from a lady who handmade them, before blogging days. Whether I've made them, or someone else, each set is contained in it's own little drawstring bag. This is the bag I made for the robot finger puppets. I've made the finger puppet bags using my own Treasure Bag tutorial.
If you have some old woollen jumpers or blankets lying around, you could try turning them into felt. I experimented with some jumpers a few years ago, and the results weren't too bad.
Our three most used sets of finger puppets are:
- Five Frogs - singing the song, Five Speckled Frogs
- Five Ducks - singing the song, Five Little Ducks
- Wombat Stew Characters - reading along with the book, Wombat Stew (affiliate link), another great Aussie picture book.
Are finger puppets a hit with your kids?
... Pam
| Tweet |
I recently found some (unused, handmade) finger puppets left over from a few years ago, and tucked them in a box of craft goodies to give to a lovely young teacher I know. She was thrilled to get them for her class. If you're making them for your school age kids, they might make a great little gifty for teacher as well! And of course - a themed/matching drawstring bag is the perfect way to present them - I think it's actually the perfect way to present pretty much *any*thing :)
ReplyDeleteThese all are so good!
ReplyDeleteYour blogs are really good and interesting. It is very great and informative. I got a lots of useful information in your blog. I'm sure by looking at these clever creations, you can come up with your own ideas - or get the kids to help you bankruptcy lawyers virginia beach. Keeps sharing more useful blogs..
ReplyDelete