Crazy creatures
Paper-Bag Puppets
All of these puppets started as plain paper bags. Draw or paint faces
and bodies on the bags. If you want, tape or glue on construction paper
and yarn decorations. Poke holes in the sides of the bag for your
fingers, stuff the head with crumpled paper, and tie a string around the
neck. Or, cup your fingers in the bag to make the head move.
Paper-Bag Pets
Paper bags make fat, friendly creatures. To make these pets, you’ll need
at least two paper bags that are the same size. Stuff one bag with
crumpled newspaper. Pull the other bag over the stuffed one. Tape the
bags together. If you want, use smaller bags to make a head and feet.
Stuff these bags and glue them to the body bag. Turn the bags into pets
with crayons, paint, construction paper, yarn, and glue. Or, to make a
marionette, use string to tie the pet to a long stick.
Egg-Carton Animals
Here\’s a zooful of animals you can make from egg cartons. To start, cut
apart all the little cups that make the carton. Then cut the cups to
form legs, ears, wings, fish scales, and animal tails. Glue the cups
together in the shapes of animals. You can use toilet paper tubes for
some of the bodies. Then paint the animals. If you use Styrofoam egg
cartons, mix some laundry detergent into your tempera paints. Add
construction paper, pipe cleaner, and yarn decorations.
Milk-Carton Menagerie
It’s easy to see these strange little creatures began life as ordinary
milk cartons. You can use milk cartons of all sizes, but the small
cartons you get in school and the pint-sized cartons used for cream seem
to work best. All you have to do is paint the cartons and add
construction paper, drinking straw, and yarn decorations. Mix some
laundry detergent into your tempera paints so the paint will stick to
the wax-coated carton. The pets in the picture will help you get
started.
