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A cardboard tube puppet starts as an empty toilet paper roll and ends up as a little character with arms that sits on your fingers. This version comes from Black Cherry Puppet Theater in Baltimore, a puppet company that teaches kids how to build and perform with puppets. You cut a face tab and two arms right out of the tube, so there is nothing to attach except the hair. A child can make one in about 20 minutes, and a grandparent can make the second one alongside so the two puppets have someone to talk to.
A standard toilet paper roll is the right size for a child's hand. Two fingers fit up inside and the arms sit about where a real puppet's shoulders would be. A paper towel tube works too. Cut it down to toilet roll height first, and you get two or three puppets from one tube. Look for plain brown cardboard. Glossy or printed tubes resist markers and the color smears.
Flatten nothing. A crushed tube cuts unevenly and the arms tear at the fold. If your tubes have glue residue from the toilet paper, peel it off before you start drawing.
The two face lines go about an inch and a half apart and about an inch deep. That gives a head big enough to draw on. The arm lines start at the center back and run around to the front, stopping where the face is. If you cut too far and an arm falls off, a small piece of tape on the inside puts it back. Kid scissors with a blunt tip handle cardboard fine, but very small hands may need a grown-up to start each cut.
Slip two fingers up inside the tube and the puppet stands on your hand. You can also work the puppets from above on a tabletop, holding the top of the head. A cardboard box on its side, or a blanket over a table, turns into a stage in seconds. Kids who are shy about talking often chatter away when a puppet does the talking.
Make a paper crown for your new puppet king, or fold a paper bag to store the cast in. On a rainy afternoon, mix a batch of homemade playdough or cut a paper snowflake together.
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Turn an empty toilet paper roll into a hand puppet with arms, a face and paper hair. An easy project: about 20 minutes. You need 7 things, including empty toilet paper tubes, scraps of colored paper and clear tape. The 10 steps start with mark the Face Tab on the Toilet Paper Tube, cut Out the Face Tab From the Toilet Paper Tube and draw the Arm Lines on the Back of the Puppet Tube.
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Pick up an empty toilet paper tube and hold it upright. With a marker, draw two lines down from the top rim. Space them about an inch and a half apart and make them about an inch long. Then draw a line across the back of the tube to connect the two lines at the bottom. The space between the lines becomes the puppet's face.
Draw lightly at first. The lines get cut away, so a pencil works fine too.
Squeeze the tube a little at the top so the scissors can get in. Cut down one of the short lines, then across the back along the connecting line, and up the other side. The ring of cardboard around the back falls away and you are left with a tall tab standing up at the front. That tab is the face and the front of your puppet.
Save the cut-off ring. It makes a handy stand while you draw.
Turn the tube so the face tab is at the back. Draw a line from the top edge straight down the center back. Stop about where the bottom of the face sits on the front. From there, draw a line across and around the side until you reach the front of the puppet. Do the same on the other side. These lines mark the two arms.
Keep the arms at least half an inch wide so they do not flop.
Cut down the center back line first. Then turn and cut across along the side line until you reach the front of the puppet. One arm swings loose. Go back and do the same thing on the other side for the second arm. If you cut too far and an arm comes off, tape it back on from the inside and keep going.
Little hands may need a grown-up to start each cut in the cardboard.
The face tab is still a square, which looks more like a box than a head. Snip the two top corners off at an angle. Trim a little more if you want a rounder shape. Stop and hold the puppet up. With the arms out and a round head, it already looks like a little person standing on the table.
For an animal, skip the rounding and cut ears into the top instead.
Now give your puppet some features. Draw eyes, a nose and a mouth on the face tab. Then draw a line across the body for the top of a shirt and another lower down for pants. Add sleeves on the arms and tiny fingers at the ends. Keep the outlines simple. You will color them in next.
A dark fine-tip marker makes the face easy to see from across the room.
Fill in the clothes with markers or crayons. Stripes are fun and easy to do on a round tube. Color the shirt, the sleeves and the pants in different colors so the outfit stands out. Give the cheeks a little pink. Turn the tube as you work so you reach all the way around the back.
Crayon over marker gives a soft, textured look on brown cardboard.
Pick a scrap of colored paper for the hair. Cut a half circle a little wider than the head. Rub glue stick on the lower edge and press it onto the back of the head so some of it peeks out around the top. Hold it for a few seconds. You can stop here, or add more hair in the next step.
Any shape works. The hair only has to show around the edges of the head.
For pigtails, cut two almond shapes and glue one to each side of the head. For bangs, cut a small rectangle and snip slits along one long edge to make a fringe. Glue it across the forehead. A wider fringe on top makes spiky hair instead. You can even give your puppet a haircut with the scissors once it is glued on.
Paper from an old magazine makes fun patterned hair.
Make a second tube the same way so your puppet has a friend. This time, turn it into a cat. Instead of rounding the head, draw two small triangles at the top corners and cut around them to leave pointed ears. Draw cat eyes, a nose and stripes. For a tail, draw one on scrap paper, cut it out, fold a small tab at the end and glue the tab to the back.
A notch cut between the legs still lets the puppet stand up.
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How to Make a Cardboard Tube Puppet (Easy Kids Craft)
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