This cute little animal felt finger puppets DIY craft is so easy to make! No matter what your crafting skill level is – you can make them! This simple craft project is even easy enough for older kids to make on their own. If your child is safe with a glue gun, he or she can make these easy finger puppets independently. They are a great craft for your crafty kid to put some creative energy into because they are inexpensive and useful! Young kids can make these adorable finger puppets with your assistance. I’d say it is fairly easy for children preschool-aged on up to participate. My toddler actually helped me make some – I just let him help push some of the pieces onto the glue when I was gluing them and he loved doing that. Crafting together is a great way to spend some quality time with your child, and a good opportunity for little hands to practice fine motor skills too!
This felt finger puppets DIY craft is made from really basic and inexpensive craft materials that you likely have already, which makes them great for an inexpensive gift or an economical addition to your educational materials for your home or classroom. Young children have so much fun using these little puppets for imaginative play and they can also be a great prop for classic songs and nursery rhymes. You can use them for creating bonding activities with your child – there are so many ways that you can use these little guys in open-ended play, for props for telling stories or singing songs together, or to promote language skills development with your younger kids in a fun way while learning the names and sounds of animals. We bring these to church for my toddler, so they can be used as a quiet activity too! In this post, I will give you free patterns for the animal finger puppets, a step-by-step tutorial for making your own, and detailed step-by-step photographs to help you along.
You Will Need the Following Materials:
- felt pieces – you choose the colors! Because the puppets are tiny, you can make them out of scraps – they are a super economical project! I used black felt for the cat finger puppet, white for the bunny finger puppet, white for the dog finger puppet, and gray felt for the mouse finger puppet. I also used pink, white, and dark brown for the ears, muzzles, inner ears, etc., but you can choose different colors – choose whatever colors you like or use whatever colors you have on hand
- googly eyes (optional)
- three dimensional fabric paint, like Puffy Paint or Scribbles (I used Scribbles) – this is also optional – you can use this for eyes and facial features
- embroidery thread – optional, but you can add some cute finishing touches and facial features with it!
- small pom poms
- scissors
- hot glue gun
- needle and thread
- sewing machine – this is optional! You can also hand-stitch the puppets if you prefer
- finger puppet templates – at the end of the post
Instructions for Felt Finger Puppets DIY Craft:
- print out the free templates (below)
- cut out the pattern pieces
- cut the finger puppet pattern pieces out of felt in the desired colors – you will have two body pieces for each puppet, two inner ears for the bunny, two ears for the cat, two ears for the mouse, two ears for the dog, two inner ears for the cat, bunny, and mouse, one spot for the dog, and a muzzle for the cat. You will also need to cut a long thin piece for the mouse’s long tail.
Now it’s time to assemble the puppets!
- For the cat, mouse, and bunny finger puppets, the first step will be to attach the inner ear pieces to the outer ear pieces. You can hand sew these on with simple stitches such as a running stitch or back stitch, or use a blanket stitch or whip stitch, or you can hot glue them. I chose to hot glue mine on because it is quick and easy, but stitching might give the puppets a more finished look. Go with your preference!
- For the dog finger puppet, your first step will be to attach the spot to the side of the top of the head, as shown in the photos.
- Now that the inner ear pieces are attached to the outer ear pieces, and the dog has his spot, you can sew or glue the ears to the back pieces of the bodies of the cat, mouse, and dog finger puppets. This is just to keep the ears in place until you sew the body pieces together.
- For the dog, cat, and mouse, now that the ears are in place, you will attach the front of the puppet to the back by sewing along the body shape at about an eighth of an inch from the bottom corner, up the side, around the top of the head, and back down the other side, leaving the bottom open for a finger. You can do this with a sewing machine, by hand stitching with a running stitch, whip stitch, blanket stitch, or backstitch, or you can glue the body pieces with hot glue. If you want to involve your kids in the process of making the puppets, hand-sewing them would be a great opportunity to teach your child some sewing techniques, and for them to practice their fine motor skills! Whichever method you use, make sure to catch the ears between the body pieces in the seam allowances and either stitch are glue them in securely.
- For the bunny finger puppet, you will sew the front and back body pieces together, making sure to sew up and around the ears as well.
- The next step is to add the muzzle to the cat. You can hand stitch it on or hot glue it, whichever you prefer.
- Now give the mouse her tail. Cut a long thin piece of felt the same color as the body. It should be about an eighth of an inch thick. Hand sew or glue the tail to the back of the mouse’s body.
- Now to make the faces! You can add googly eyes, use embroidery floss to tie a French knot for the eyes, or use 3D fabric paint to paint them on. I did this with fabric paint (Scribbles brand), but you could also add the facial features with embroidery floss. Add tiny pom poms for the noses. I used a pink one for the cat, bunny, and mouse, and a dark brown one for the dog.
All done with your felt finger puppets DIY craft! Now the best part – to enjoy the cute finger puppets you made with your little ones!
Felt Finger Puppets DIY Craft Pattern
Thank you for visiting! For more free felt patterns check out the links at the bottom of the post. I hope you visit again soon!
