Black Dragon Hand Puppet

What better way to bring in the Year of the Dragon than with a puppet show.  Last week, we made a dragon hand puppet using construction paper, chopsticks, and... our hands!  When you are finished, have your angel create their own story and give you a puppet show.

Materials:

1 printout of the Dragon Hand Puppet template*
1 piece of black construction paper
2-3 pieces of construction paper (black, red, orange, yellow or combination)
4 Brad fasteners
1 large googley eye
1 set of wooden chopsticks (or 2 popsicle sticks)
Tape, Glue stick, Scissors

Procedure:

1.      Cut out the pieces from the Dragon Hand Puppet template.  I printed mine on cardstock so that it was easier for my little angel cut.

2.      Trace the head, ear, tail, leg (two times) and horn on a piece of black construction paper.  My angel decided to keep the teeth and eyes white.

Dragon Puppet template

3.      Cut the dragon parts out of the construction paper.

4.      On the other pieces of construction paper, trace a child’s hand nine times.  Again, I used cardstock to trace each hand one time, making a template.  Then, my angel cut out the hands and traced them on the construction paper.

5.      Cut out the construction paper hands.

6.      Punch a hole below the middle finger of 3 construction paper hands.

7.      Punch a hole in the center of the lower palm of 3 of the other construction paper hands.

8.      Separate the hands into 3 groups of 3 different pieces - one with a finger hole, one with a palm hole, and one without a hole.

9.      Beginning with one group of hands, lay the hand down with the fingers facing to the right and the thumb facing down.

10.   Place a dot of glue on the palm of the hand with a hole below the middle finger.

11.   Take the hand with no hole and align it so that the fingers face right and the thumb is facing up.

12.   Place it on top of the first hand so that the palm of the top hand is about ½” to the left of the first and glue it in place.

13.   Place a dot of glue on the palm of the hand with no hole.

14.   Taking the hand with a hole in the palm, align it so the fingers face right and the thumb faces down.

15.   Place it on top of the first hand so that the palm of the top hand is about ½” to the left of the first and glue it in place.  Be sure the hole in the palm is not covered.

16.   Repeat steps 9-15 for each of the last two groups of hands.

17.   Set the 3 sets of hands aside to dry.

18.   Glue the googley eye on the “X” of the eye cutout and color the eyelid.

19.   Glue the eye on the front of the dragon’s head.

20.   Glue the teeth, horn and ear on the back side of the dragon’s head so that they are seen from the front.

21.   Put a small piece of tape on the dragon’s head, legs, and tail where there is an “X”.

22.   Punch a hole through the tape on the “X” of each piece.

23.   Cut two slits in the dragon’s head and tail where the lines are drawn.

24.   If the chopsticks are connected to each other, separate them.

25.   Slip the small end of the chopstick through the bottom slit from the back of the head then out the top slit.

26.   On the back of the dragon’s head, tape across the chopstick where the paper crosses at the center and again across the top of the chopstick to secure it. 

27.   Do the same on the tail.  These are the sticks to control your puppet.

28.   Take one brad clip and one set of hands.  Place the brad clip through the finger hole of one set of hands.

29.   Now thread the brad clip through the hole in one of the dragon’s legs and then through the hole in the tail.

30.   Secure the clips in place.

31.   Take another set of hands and thread the brad clip through the finger hole.

32.   Thread the clip through the palm hole of the hands that are attached to the dragon tail.

33.   Repeat steps 28-30 with the last set of hands so that all of the hands are attached to the tail with a leg hanging down in the middle.

34.   To finish the dragon, thread the last brad clip through the palm hole of the last hand.

35.   Next thread the clip through the hole in the dragon’s leg and then through the hole of the dragon’s head.

36.   Secure the clip in place.

37.   To move the dragon, hold the chopsticks and move your hands up and down.



*Preview the picture of the Dragon template before printing.  Be sure that the picture prints 8.5" X 11" (the full size of a piece of paper).  Also, check the alignment so that the image prints landscape.