Junk Puppets
When it comes right down to it, many kinds of puppets can be considered "Junk Puppets". A junk puppet is any puppet which is made solely or partly from discarded materials. Sock puppets, box puppets, paper bag puppets, some hand puppets and marionettes can all be made from "cast offs" and thus can be considered junk puppets. Here are some examples of different materials you can use to make a junk puppet:
socks	paper rolls	corks
paper bags	wooden spoons	yarn
egg cartons	boxes	wooden or plastic spools
plastic bottles	cardboard food containers	paper plates
	Materials
Junk (make sure you don't have any junk that is really dirty or anything that will start to smell!) Glue (a hot glue gun helps, or use white craft glue) Tape (masking tape is probably the best ) String Felt or fun foam Construction paper Scissors Hole punch Rubber bands
Collect all your junk in a box or another centalized location. When you have a good collection of different kinds of junk you will be ready to start thinking about what you want to use for your puppet. Look at your junk and move it around until you begin to have an idea what you want your puppet to look like. You might want to write down your ideas or draw a quick picture to remind yourself later what you plan to do. Does something look like a head, an arm, some other part of a puppet? What happens if you tape this paper roll to that one? Sometimes you will find a whole puppet who practically jumps off the table in its eagerness to be made. Sometimes you will find part of a puppet and will really have to think about how you want to finish it, or you may have to put part of a puppet away for a while until you find the right junk to finish him. Start cutting, taping, gluing and building your puppet. If you don't like the way something looks, change it or get rid of it. If you make a mistake, it's okay because the materials you are using were just junk to begin with. If you are making a puppet with moving parts such as a marionette, you can join pieces with string joints. Make sure that you use enough glue to stick parts together, but don't use so much glue that will take a long time to dry. Be sure all glue is throughly dry before using your puppet. Clean up your mess! If you don't take care of it, people may think that pile of stuff you saved to make puppets is really junk and will throw it away.
Click on bag to go to Paper Bag Puppet instructions.		Click on socks to go to Sock Puppet instructions.
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