Thanksgiving Paper Bag Puppets

This idea was inspired by teacherhelp.org. There were no specific instructions on that site, but it is fairly self-explanatory.

Here are my own "directions" for how we made these puppets:

Supplies needed:

Paper bags
Construction paper
Feathers (I happen to have a supply of actual feathers on hand, but if I didn't, I would just make some out of paper.)
Glue
Scissors (for prep work)

Procedure:

1. PREP-WORK:

Pre-make the pieces for each puppet. For each one, the face, hair, and the components of their hats & of their belts were all separate items that Caleb would later glue on. This was my own craft activity last night. =)

**If you would prefer to use a template for the faces, there are some available at http://www.teacherhelp.org/thanks.htm If you follow that link, you can also see examples of their Thanksgiving puppets.

2. CHILD'S TASK:

Work with your child to put together the puppets. Caleb is pretty good with glue, but depending on the age of your child, you might need to place the glue in the correct spot and have him/her stick each piece on. I try as much as possible to allow Caleb to do most of the work. Even if a hat is crooked, there seems to be too many feathers, or there is glue in places there shouldn't be, my goal is for him to do it. Even if it doesn't look "perfect"!

**You can always add other clothing parts, shoes, arms, etc. if you like. I thought that using an actual ribbon for the feather headpiece would look nice, but I didn't have any ribbon on hand that seemed to work.

3. TALK ABOUT IT:

Whenever I do projects with him, I do my best to use them as "teaching moments". So today, we talked about the 1st Thanksgiving and who the Pilgrims and Indians were. We "played" with the puppets and used that time to touch on topics such as what was eaten at the 1st Thanksgiving.

I am not confident that these puppets will last very long, as they are only paper, but so far he has enjoyed playing with them, and they are a nice visual reference of the folks who shared that first Thanksgiving meal!