Fun Forest Animal Popsicle Stick Puppets

I love reading with my kids.  I especially love books that inspire us to continue the fun.  We recently re-read “Who’s in the Forest” by Phillis Gershator and I thought it would be fun to create puppets to go along with the story.  The kids were very excite to help color the animals and act out the story as I read it.  Read on to learn how to create your own Forest Animal Popsicle Stick Puppets.

Materials Needed

• White Paper
• Printer (optional if you do not want to draw the animals by hand)
• Crayons
• Scissors
• Craft Sticks/Popsicle Sticks
• Tape

Instructions

• Draw a deer, a bird, a squirrel, a fox, a bear and an owl (or find coloring sheets to print out- see my links below)
  • Fox, Bear, Raccoon, and Moose (I used the moose for the deer) coloring sheets
  • Grey Squirrel coloring sheet
  • Bird coloring sheet
  • Owl
• Get out crayons and have your child color in the animals – this is a fun time for them to get creative (be prepared to help color or plan to space this activity out over multiple days)
• Cut out the animals 
• Tape craft sticks to the back of the animals to make them more sturdy (I used quite a few on each animal – make sure they overlap to create a strong base)

• Tape a craft stick to the bottom (make sure it hits the base)

After you have finished the puppets pull the story back out and it read while your child (or children) acts the story out.  

Extension ideas:

• Based on your child’s age/skill level with scissors you could have them cut the animals out
• Have your child assemble the puppets themselves
• Have your child create their own story and act it out with the puppets

We had a lot of fun creating these animals together – I even colored a few myself.  As an adult I still love to color with crayons 🙂  

What is your favorite book to read with your kids?