Cat Puppet

This is a fun and interesting art project that demonstrates how colours can be blended to create a gradient effect. Using a black image to create a contrast also teaches children about silhouettes and what they are. The finished pictures can be hung around the classroom in a display.

Cat Puppet

Skill Level

Advanced

Time to Make

1 hour 30 minutes

Adult Supervision Needed

Yes

How to Make

  1. Poke four leg holes in one side of a craft pot using a sharp pencil and make sure they line up each side as the legs need to balance. Poke a hole in the centre of the main body piece on the opposite side to the leg holes. Pierce a hole in the centre of the back end of the craft pot with a sharp pencil.
  2. Paint the craft pot orange using a foam brush, making sure it’s completely covered. Leave to dry.
  3. Cut a cat face big enough to cover the open end of the craft pot from orange card and add wiggle eyes, then draw on nose, mouth and whiskers and inner ears. Put to one side.
  4. Take three orange pipe cleaners. Poke one in through one of the leg holes on the left hand side and out through the other, so the legs are the same size. Do the same with the other pipe cleaner on the other side. Poke the last pipe cleaner through the hole at the back for the tail and reach in and secure inside with a glue dot.
  5. Draw four orange paws on orange card, cut out and punch a hole in each one in the same position.
  6. Feed a paw onto each pipe cleaner leg, securing the end of the pipe cleaner under the foot with a glue dot.
  7. Cut four lengths (double the length of the legs). Pierce a hole in the toe of each paw with a sharp pencil, feed a piece of string through each one and secure in place on the underside with a glue dot. Feed another length of string through the hole in the top of the body, secure it with a glue dot on the inside.
  8. Take a lolly stick and secure the strings attached to the front paws – one length to each end of the lolly stick – with a glue dot. Repeat with another lolly stick for the back feet strings. Take a third lolly stick, and glue the body string to the centre. These are your puppet strings.
  9. Finally, glue the cat face to the open end of the craft pot using a glue gun.

Top Tip

You can adapt the design to create different animal puppets.

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