Santa Paper Bag Puppet

Christmas at my house is always full of fun, crafty activities. Surprisingly, we hadn’t done many crafts involving Santa this year yet! I knew it was time to pull out this Santa Paper Bag Puppet for a fun afternoon of crafting with the kids

Santa Paper Bag Puppet

Paper bag puppets are some of my kids’ favorite crafts and they’re mine too! Paper bags are very inexpensive to purchase and can often be found at the grocery store. I usually have the rest of the materials already on hand, making this a really inexpensive craft project. Even my younger children can help glue the pieces of the puppet together. 

Following instructions is a skill children need for school, and making a craft at home is a great way to practice that skill. When we craft together, my kids are also honing their fine motor skills and their imaginations! Creating a simple craft is one of our go-to boredom busters. 

Supplies

  • Colored construction paper
  • Pencil – to trace the template
  • Craft glue
  • Sharpie or gel pen
  • Paper bag
  • Scissors

Printable Template

Not quite ready to join our email list where we share free and paid products and fun ideas? That is ok! Purchase the template below!

How to Make a Santa Paper Bag Puppet

Santa Paper bag puppet with a red suit and yellow toy bag slung over one shoulder

Directions 

Cut out puppet pieces laid out next to each other. Pink round face, white beard, mustache and eyebrows. black belt, yellow buckle, red hat with white pom pom and trim, red gloves with white trim, red legs and black boots
  • Select black, white, pink, yellow, and red colored papers for the Santa puppet. The template includes the following patterns- head, hat, hat border, beard, mustache, eyebrows, hat pompom, gloves, shoes, legs, sleeve border, belt, and buckle. 
  • Trace the template patterns on the selected colored papers and cut out the traced pattern.
Pink face cutout with white beard glued on
  • Glue the beard onto the bottom of the head.
Pink face cutout with beard, mustache and eyebrows glued on
  • Glue the mustache and eyebrows to the head. 
Red glove pieces with white trim glued to the base of each hand, red legs with black shoes glues to the bottom.
  •  Glue the shoes onto the legs and the white glove embellishments to the base of each glove.
Red hat with white pom pom piece glued to the top and white trim glued to the bottom. Black belt with yellow belt buckle attached
  • Glue the white hat border to the bottom of the hat and the white pom pom to the tip of the hat. Cut slits into the yellow buckle and slide the belt through the slits.
Santa face with red hat glued on and facial features drawn on with pen
  • Glue the hat onto the head. Use a sharpie to draw the facial features on. 
Brown paper bag next to large red rectangle with rounded sides, large enough to cover the side of the bag
  • Select a paper bag or make your own using brown paper. Prepare a large red piece of paper to cover one side of the bag. This is Santa’s body. 
Red Santa body with white trim attached to the bottom and legs sticking out the bottom on top of brown paper bag
  • Glue a white border to the bottom of the body piece and attach the legs. 
Red Santa body with white trim and two legs with black boots attached to brown paper bag underneath the flap
  • Glue the body to the paper bag under the flap. 
Red Santa body with black belt and yellow buckle across the middle and arms and legs attached glued to brown paper bag
  • Glue the arms to the sides of the body and the belt across the middle. 
Completed Santa Paper Bag Puppet with head glued to the paper bag flap
  • Attach the head to the flattened bottom of the bag
Santa puppet in red suit with yellow toy bag over left shoulder
  • Optional – cut a toy bag out of construction paper and attach it over one of Santa’s shoulders

Tips and Tricks

  • Draw Santa’s facial features onto the face before gluing the eyebrows and mustache. It is hard to draw on top of wayward glue. 
  • To make the belt easier, simply glue the yellow buckle onto the belt and then draw a black square into the middle of the buckle with a marker or pen. 
  • Pre-cut the pieces for your child and let them do the gluing if they aren’t good with scissors yet. 

More Ideas…

After you make your puppets, read a good book about Santa! How to Catch Santa Claus is a fun one that your kids can then use their puppet to act out after you’re done reading. 

If you have older kids who aren’t so into paper bag puppets but still want to join the fun, have them make these Rudolph Story Puppets! These are smaller and more of a challenge to create, plus your kids can learn how to hold multiple puppets in one hand. 

For a Christmas craft that can double as a toy and as a decoration, try this cute Elf paper cup for a fun new project which actually makes a fun table decoration for Christmas dinner. 

Don’t forget to try a sweet dessert in all your holiday crafting! These Strawberry Dipped Christmas Trees need only six ingredients and are perfect for little helpers. 

Whatever you do, we can’t wait to see it! Tag us on social media @frostingandglue

Santa Paper Bag Puppet

Santa Paper Bag Puppet

This Santa Paperbag Puppet is the perfect craft for your family this holiday season! Your kids will love getting in the Christmas spirit, spending time as a family, and playing with their puppet when they're done.

Materials

  • Construction papers
  • Pencil – to trace the template
  • Craft glue
  • Sharpie or gel pen
  • Popsicle sticks

Instructions

Grab black, white, pink, yellow and red colored craft papers for the Santa puppet. The template includes a head, hat, hat border, beard, moustache, eyebrows, hat pompom, gloves, shoes, legs, sleeve border, belt and buckle. Trace the template patterns on the correct construction papers and cut out the traced pattern.

Glue the shoe cutouts to the leg cutouts and glue the glove border cutouts to the glove base cutouts.

Glue the hat border along the bottom side of the hat cutout and the pompom cutout (small round shape) on the top end of the hat. Glue the buckle with the belt cutout.

Glue the beard cutout on the bottom side of the head cutout.

Glue the eyebrows and the mustache cutouts on the head cutout.

Glue the hat pattern on the top side of the head pattern. Use a sharpie to draw the face of the Santa figure.

Grab a brown paper bag. Prepare a piece of paper (Santa’s clothes) to cover a side of the paper bag.

Glue a white border along the bottom side of the clothes and glue the leg patterns on the bottom side.

Glue the prepared lower-body pattern of the Santa figure on one side of the paper bag. Remember that the closed side of the paper bag will be the top side of the paper bag puppet.

Glue the arm patterns on both sides of the body paper.

Flatten the bottom part of the paper bag with the front side and glue the head pattern on the bottom side of the bag to complete the Santa puppet craft.

 
Grab Your Template
Enter your email below to join the email list and download your Santa Paperbag Puppet Template.
Thanks so much! Click here to get your template! 

How Do I Print A PDF?

You’ll need a program that supports PDFs. Adobe Acrobat is a great option. Open the program, click file then print. Select your printer and the number of copies you want to print. Be sure you click double-sided if you want it to print on both sides. 

Can I Resell These?

You may not resell any printable or template that you find on our website or received in your email. You may use them for class parties, at church, at home, or in the classroom. You may get these printed at an office supply store or copy center at your own expense.

Leave a Reply

Skip to Instructions
%d bloggers like this: