Sockpuppets are relatively easy to make, and they can be a fun way for children to get involved in telling stories, even if they’re usually shy. Not only to they get to create their own characters, but they then get to bring them to life with their own hands as part of a puppet show.
To make a sock puppet, you really just need a sock, and a hand to make it talk! To make it look a little nicer, though, it helps to have the right materials. First off, raid your sock drawer for socks that are mismatched or that have holes. You’ll also need to gather up some basics, including: some bristol board, thin cardboard and/or squares of red or pink felt for the inside of the mouth; some chalk to make washable marks while you make the puppets; scissors, paper and glue (a glue gun works great if you have one); and anything else you’d like to use as a decoration—bits of yarn or string for hair, googly eyes or buttons for eyes, more felt, cotton balls, macaroni, or whatever.
There are a few good, detailed step-by-step guides online to help you make sock puppets; Danielle’s
A number of youth learned how to make sock puppets at a teacher training in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and they used them to tell the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf.