Wooden Spoon Puppets
Wooden Spoon Puppets are a fun and inexpensive way for kids to create their own characters for pretend play, storytelling, puppet shows, and classroom activities. With a few wooden spoons and simple craft supplies, children can make silly people, animals, storybook characters, or a whole puppet family.
This easy craft for kids is a great way to encourage imagination while using basic supplies from the dollar store or craft drawer.
Fun Fact
Spoons have been used as eating tools since prehistoric times. Long before modern utensils, people likely used shells, wood chips, or carved pieces of bone and wood as early spoons.
Supplies
- Wooden spoons
- Fancy shoelaces
- Pipe cleaners
- Felt scraps
- Lace scraps
- Yarn
- Furry fabric scraps
- Small wiggle eyes
- Fine line black marker
- Paint, optional
- Paintbrush, optional
- Hot glue gun, adult assistance required
Instructions
- Paint the wooden spoon if you want your puppet to have a colorful face or a different skin tone. Let it dry completely before adding decorations.
- Wrap the handle with a fancy shoelace, pipe cleaner, ribbon, or fabric strip to make the puppet’s clothing. Start near the spoon bowl and work your way down the handle. Add small dabs of hot glue as you wrap to hold everything in place.
- Cut small collars, shirts, hats, bows, or other details from felt, lace, or scrap fabric. Glue them onto the puppet to help create its character.
- Glue on small wiggle eyes.
- Use a fine line black marker to draw the nose, mouth, eyebrows, freckles, glasses, or other facial features.
- Create hair from yarn, furry fabric, or pipe cleaners. To make curly pipe cleaner hair, wrap a pipe cleaner around a pencil or skewer, then slide it off and glue it to the top of the spoon.
- Let everything dry, then use your finished wooden spoon puppets for puppet shows, storytelling, or imaginative play.
Craft Tips
Make a whole cast of characters by changing the hair, clothes, colors, and facial expressions.
Kids can create family members, teachers, fairy tale characters, animals, monsters, or funny made-up puppets.
For younger children, an adult can handle the hot glue while kids choose the decorations and design the faces.
Patterns, Templates and Printables
No printable pattern is needed for this craft. Each wooden spoon puppet can be designed as a one-of-a-kind character using simple craft supplies.
Teacher Friendly Educational Extension
Turn this puppet craft into a classroom storytelling activity. Have each child create a character, then write a short description that includes the puppet’s name, personality, favorite place, and one problem they need to solve.
Students can work in small groups to create a short puppet show using their wooden spoon puppets. This encourages creative writing, speaking skills, cooperation, and confidence.
For a reading connection, ask students to make a puppet based on a favorite book character and use it to retell part of the story.
Supplies
Instructions
Contributor
These projects are created by Terri, Betty, Jamie or one of the talented staff members at MakingFriends.com. They have been created exclusively for publication on FreeKidsCrafts.com with supplies you'll be able to find around your house.
Great ideas for easy and fun crafts! How long do the puppet decorations usually last when kids play with them? Would love to know if there are tips to make them more durable.