If you are looking for a fun Christmas craft project to do with your child this holiday season or handmade gifts that your older kids can make on their own, these DIY Santa Claus and reindeer finger puppets might be just the thing! These Christmas finger puppets are great for imaginative play or to use as props for favorite Christmas songs like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Up On the Housetop. One of the best things about them is that there are ten Christmas puppets for ten little fingers! Kids of all ages will have so much fun at home or in the classroom with these Christmas felt finger puppets during story time or while doing counting, sequencing, or memory activities. We bring our set of finger puppets to church and they are a great way for my younger children to quietly entertain themselves so I can pay attention!
In this post I will show you how to make finger puppets that are cute, simple and quick to make, and really inexpensive. They are made from basic craft supplies that you probably already have around the house. Read on for a detailed tutorial and free patterns for these fun Christmas felt finger puppets.
Materials You Will Need:
- finger puppet patterns (you can find the free template at the end of the post)
- felt – You do not need a lot – less than one regular felt sheet of each color will be enough – you can probably get away with scraps alone for most of the finger puppet pieces. I used light brown felt for the reindeer bodies, a stiff tan felt for the reindeer antlers, white felt for Santa’s beard, mustache, and hat trim, flesh-colored felt for Santa’s face, and red for Santa’s hat and body.
- pom poms – I recommend a tiny red pom pom for Santa’s red nose, and small pom poms for the reindeer – I used eight brown pom poms for the eight reindeer and one red pom pom for Rudolph’s nose
- fabric paint (like Puffy Paint or Scribbles) OR embroidery thread – this will be used for the eyes, so you can choose whichever one you prefer to use
- googly eyes (optional – I did not use them for my puppets, but if you prefer them you totally can!)
- hot glue gun and hot glue
- sewing machine (This is optional – you can hand-sew the puppets if you prefer, in which case you will need a needle and thread to match your felt. You can also skip the sewing altogether and use hot glue or fabric glue instead)
Instructions for How to Make Finger Puppets:
- First, print out the free finger puppet patterns below
- Cut all the pattern pieces out of the felt pieces – You will have 18 body pieces for the reindeer, 18 antler pieces, 18 ear pieces, two Santa body pieces, one Santa face, one Santa beard, one Santa mustache, one Santa hat, one hat trim piece, and one ball for the hat.
- To assemble the reindeer puppets, first, attach the antlers and ears to the back body piece with a little glue or a stitch or two. Now sew the front of the body to the back of the body, sandwiching the ears and antlers in between the body pieces. Sew around the sides and top of the body pieces at a scant quarter inch, leaving the bottom open for a finger. You can use a machine to sew the pieces together or you can hand stitch them with a blanket stitch, back stitch, or whip stitch around the outer edges. Make sure you catch the ears and antlers in the stitching with whichever method you choose. If you prefer not to sew at all, you can use fabric glue or hot glue around the edges of the body to assemble the puppet. Hot glue will probably work better and be more durable than fabric glue.
- Now that you have the body assembled, you can add the noses and eyes. For the noses, hot glue a brown or red (red for the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Finger Puppet) pom pom to the reindeer body, just below the middle. See the photo for placement. Now it’s time to add the eyes! For the eyes, you can make two French knots with embroidery floss, or you can add googly eyes, or paint eyes on with fabric paint. I added the eyes to my reindeer finger puppets with fabric paint. I used Puffy Paint brand. Place the eyes just above the nose. I played with different eye placement to give each reindeer puppet its own unique character.
Now your reindeer puppets are finished!
Time to make your Santa finger puppet to complete your Christmas finger puppet set!
- The first step is to add Santa’s face piece to the front piece of his body. Place the face in the center of the body. You can sew it on or glue it one, whichever you prefer.
- Next, attach the front of the body to the back of the body. As with the reindeer finger puppets, you can machine sew the body pieces together, hand stitch them, or use hot glue, joining the sides and rounded top of the body and leaving the bottom open for a finger.
- Once the body pieces are sewn or glued together, add the beard. I suggest hot gluing it on, but you could also hand stitch it. The beard should be placed so that it barely overlaps the bottom of the face and the bottom tip of the beard just barely extends below the very bottom of the shirt.
- Next add the hat. Sew or glue the hat to the top of the body. It should be slightly above the top of the face.
- Stitch or glue the hat ball on to the tip of the hat and add the hat trim piece so that the top of the trim piece overlaps the bottom of the hat.
- Next add the mustache. The mustache should overlap the top curve of the beard. See the photo below for placement.
- Now for the finishing touches! Add a tiny red pom pom for Santa’s nose.
- And last – add Santa’s eyes. You can make a French knot with embroidery thread for each eye, or glue on googly eyes, or paint eyes on with fabric paint like Puffy Paint of Scribbles. For my Santa puppet I made French knots and I actually don’t think they look much different than fabric paint, which is easier and quicker.
Now your fun felt finger puppets are finished! Look at those adorable finger puppets! I hope this little project helped you get into the Christmas Spirit! Thank you for visiting! I hope you come back soon. Merry Christmas!
Printable Patterns for Christmas Felt Finger Puppets
See the links below for more fun DIY felt finger puppet patterns! See you next time!
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