PAPER FINGER PUPPET

Your fingers are the legs (or trunk) of these simple paper puppets. You can make the entire cast of a nursery rhyme or fairy tale in just a few minutes, and then put on your own show.


Supplies needed:

Stiff paper, like thick construction paper or even thicker paper Scissors Markers or crayons Optional - printer, googly eyes, glue, cotton balls

Instructions for all the finger puppets:

• Using stiff paper, either print out a puppet template or draw your own.
• Cut out the finger puppet and the finger hole(s).
• Decorate the puppet with crayons or markers.
• Optional: glue on googly eyes and cotton-ball or yarn hair. 

1. 
2. 
   

Humpty Dumpty

---

Humpty Dumpty  sat on a wall. 
Humpty Dumpty  had a great fall. 
All the king's  horses, 
And all the king's  men, 
Couldn't put Humpty  together again.




 JACK AND JILL 

---

Jack  and Jill  went up the hill, 
To fetch a pail  of water. 
Jack  fell down, 
And broke his crown; 
And Jill  came tumbling after.

---

Then up  Jack  got, and home  did trot,
as fast as he  could caper.
They put him  to bed, 

and plastered his head, 
with vinegar  and brown paper.             

 

MAKE A 3-D HEXALFLEXAGON

A hexaflexagon (also called a kaleidocycle) is a folded geometric figure that can be "flexed" to expose many sides. This craft is a 3-D hexaflexagon, made of six tetrahedrons. To make a 3-D hexaflexagon, print out the template, cut and fold carefully, then tape (or glue) into shape. You can then "flex" the 3-D hexaflexagon, exposing each of four six-sided faces, one at a time.
The hexaflexagon was invented in 1939 by the Princeton University graduate student Arthur H. Stone (from England). He had trimmed his American notebook paper to fit in his English notebook. He folded the trimmed-off strips and devised the first Hexaflexagon, a flat one that had three faces (this is now called a Trihexaflexagon).

 Supplies:

• Printer
• Paper (cardstock or construction paper works well)
• Tape or glue 

Instructions:

Print out the hexaflexagon template. Regular notebook paper is too flimsy to make a good hexaflexagon - stiff paper (like cardstock) makes a workable 3-D hexaflexagon).To make a larger hexaflexagon, enlarge this pattern.

Cut along the outside of the figure. Fold along each line. NOTE: Make sure all the cuts (and folds) are exact (or the hexaflexagon will not flex).

Carefully form the paper into a doughnut shape (some of the triangles are folded under an opposing triangle, marked with dots).Tape (or glue) the middle sections first (making a snake-like figure), then tape or glue the ends together (by putting the proper flaps under triangles).

Now you can carefully "flex" the hexaflexagon, exposing the four sides, one at a time. First, make sure all the folds are straight and all the corners are pointy.