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
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How to Make a Santa Paper Bag Puppet
Directions
- 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.
- Glue the beard onto the bottom of the head.
- Glue the mustache and eyebrows to the head.
- Glue the shoes onto the legs and the white glove embellishments to the base of each glove.
- 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.
- Glue the hat onto the head. Use a sharpie to draw the facial features on.
- 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.
- Glue a white border to the bottom of the body piece and attach the legs.
- Glue the body to the paper bag under the flap.
- Glue the arms to the sides of the body and the belt across the middle.
- Attach the head to the flattened bottom of the bag
- 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
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.
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.