How do I prepare and use Christmas Paper Puppet Craft Kit?
Quick answer: Print the pack, which has 27 character instruction cards in three groups and four show cards. Let each child pick a character, then buy supplies for the characters they chose. Cut paper parts ahead of time for younger children and give each child a named lunch bag. The example session takes about 40 minutes: 20 minutes to decorate, 10 minutes to let the glue dry and rehearse, and a 10-minute show with a narrator reading the show cards. The cards describe what to make. They are not cut-out templates, so you prepare the paper shapes yourself.
27 puppet characters and four show cards
Print the instruction cards below or read them from this page. These are decorating directions, not cut-out shape templates. The random picker draws from all 31 cards, including the show prompts; choose directly from a character group when assigning puppets.
How to play
- Print the instruction cards and prepare hats, eyes, ears and noses for children who need pre-cut parts.
- Let children choose a character and decorate the bag body while groups of four take turns at the glue station.
- Put named puppets aside to dry and read the show prompts aloud while children rehearse.
- Perform two scenes and a final bow behind the couch, then gather the puppets to take home.
Draw one when the room is ready
Santa — red paper triangle hat above the fold, cotton-ball beard under the flap edge, marker rosy cheeks
Flap-face starters
Nine simpler designs, using one bag each. Allow about five minutes for a prepared version; extra details can take longer.
- Santa — red paper triangle hat above the fold, cotton-ball beard under the flap edge, marker rosy cheeks
- Snowman — white paper face over the flap, black dot eyes, orange paper carrot nose pointing over the fold
- Reindeer — brown bag as-is, sticker googly eyes on the flap, red pom-pom nose on the fold edge, hand-traced antlers behind the top
- Elf — green triangle hat with a paper bell, pointed paper ears glued to the flap sides, marker freckles
- Penguin — black paper hood over the flap, white belly oval below the fold, orange triangle beak
- Gingerbread kid — kraft paper face, white icing squiggle drawn along the flap edge, two button eyes
- Angel — gold paper halo on a craft stick taped inside the bag top, yarn hair, folded-paper wings on the back panel
- Polar bear — white paper face circle over the flap, small gray ears on top, black marker nose
- Mouse — gray paper face, big paper ears glued high on the flap sides, yarn whiskers, pink pom-pom nose for ages 4 and up
Costume builds
Nine designs with costumes or props. Allow about ten minutes for a prepared version and gather the extra materials first.
- Mrs. Claus — white yarn bun on top, pipe-cleaner glasses, apron rectangle glued to the body panel
- Christmas tree — green triangle body on the front panel, foil star on top, dot-sticker ornaments
- Nutcracker soldier — red paper jacket rectangle, black paper tall hat, white beard square, marker buttons
- Caroler — felt muffler strip around the bag neck, rolled paper hymnal held in a taped-on hand
- Toy drummer — paper drum circle on the body, two short paper straws taped as drumsticks
- Jack Frost — silver paper hood, white pipe-cleaner snowflakes glued to the body, blue marker cheeks
- Snow globe puppet — clear plastic cup taped over the flap as the dome, mini paper tree inside, confetti shaken in and taped shut
- Reindeer with lights — reindeer face plus a string of paper light bulbs alternating colors across the body panel
- Bell ringer — red paper scarf with one real jingle bell glued to the end, rolled paper songbook in hand
Showstopper builds
Nine longer projects for children who want more steps. Some need two or three bags; allow extra time beyond the example schedule.
- Giant Santa — two bags taped end to end, cotton beard in three layers, felt hat with a real pom
- Three-headed snowman — three white bags stacked and taped, three faces of different sizes, scarves dividing each head
- Donkey — gray two-bag body, yarn mane down the spine, paper ears long enough to flop
- Nativity king — two-bag height, folded gold paper crown, jewel stickers down the robe
- Green grump — green tissue-paper twists for fur, one paper heart taped to the chest
- Toy robot — silver-covered bag, foil dials, pipe-cleaner antenna, flap mouth drawn as a speaker grille
- Frost dragon — paper-plate wings taped to the sides, zigzag paper spine down the bag, crepe-paper breath from the flap
- Star of the show — bag covered in gold paper, foil rays fanning from the flap, face drawn on the fold
- Snow family trio — three snack-size bags with one face each, held in one hand for a chorus line
Family puppet-show prompts
Four cards for two scenes, an optional audience suggestion and a final bow. A narrator can read each one aloud.
- Scene one — Santa's hat is missing and the snowman saw everything; act out the search across the room
- Scene two — the sleigh lands in the wrong yard and the reindeer must ask a penguin for directions
- Wild card — the audience picks any puppet to teach Santa one modern thing, like a tablet or a vacuum
- Final bow — every puppet says one line about the best part of Christmas, then the bedsheet curtain drops
What the printable pack includes and how to print it
Children turn lunch bags into Santa, a snowman, a reindeer or another Christmas character, then put on a short puppet show. The printable pack has 27 character instruction cards in three groups, plus four show cards for the narrator.
Use Print all 31 in the pack to print the instructions and show cards together. Your printer layout decides how many pages that takes. You can read the printed cards as they are, or copy individual instructions onto separate cards if you want to hand them out. Keep the four show cards apart from the character cards so the narrator has them ready.
Does printing the kit include cut-out templates?
Quick answer: No. The pack contains 27 character instruction cards and four show cards. You cut the paper shapes yourself from the descriptions on the cards.
Each card describes the pieces in words. For example, the Santa card uses a red triangle hat, a cotton-ball beard and drawn cheeks, and the penguin uses a black hood, a white belly and an orange beak. No downloadable cut-out sheets come with the pack, so plan time to cut the shapes yourself, especially for younger children.
Let children choose their characters before you shop
Let each child choose a character before the glue comes out. Children can swap cards before they start. If you want a shorter craft, offer the simpler designs. If your guests like adding details, offer the costume builds or the longer projects.
Before children pick, check which designs they can finish with the help you have, what needs preparing and how much time you've allowed. Choosing a craft project and getting the table ready has a checklist for those practical details.
Settle on the designs before you go shopping. Some characters need extra bags or materials. A giant Santa needs two bags and the three-headed snowman needs three. If you know the choices in advance, you can buy what those projects actually need.
| Character group | What children make | Suggested time |
|---|---|---|
| Flap-face starters | A face on the bag flap, usually with three to five attached pieces | About five minutes with parts ready |
| Costume builds | A character with arms, clothes or props | About ten minutes with parts ready |
| Showstopper builds | Larger characters, extra bags or more decoration | Allow longer; make the chosen design once beforehand |
Work out supplies and bag numbers
The base list below is for eight children making one bag each. Count only the children who will make a puppet. That includes the birthday child, siblings or any adults who join in, and leaves out anyone who will only watch. Then add extras for the characters the children chose.
The cards also call for materials that are not on the base list: gray, pink, gold or silver paper, foil, yarn, felt, tissue paper, craft sticks, paper straws, paper plates, crepe paper, a clear plastic cup, confetti, a jingle bell and pom-poms. Check the cards for the characters your group chose and buy only what those characters need.
- 8 lunch bags, 6 by 9 inches, plus 4 spares
- 4 glue sticks shared between pairs, plus 1 bottle of white glue for decorations that need it
- About 40 cotton balls for beards and trim
- 1 sheet each of red, green, white, brown, black and orange card stock, with more for repeated characters
- 1 pack of 24 pipe cleaners and 1 sheet of 64 googly-eye stickers
- Crayons or markers, with one cup for every three seats (three cups for eight children)
- Children's scissors, one pair for every two children who will cut their own parts (four pairs if all eight cut)
- One printed set of the 27 character cards and four show cards
- Optional: name labels, tape and take-home bags
What size paper bags work?
Quick answer: The base list uses 6-by-9-inch lunch bags: one per child plus four spares. Add bags for multi-bag characters. The snow family trio uses three snack-size bags.
For each two-bag puppet, add one bag on top of the child's base bag. For each three-bag puppet, add two. Count the snow family trio's snack-size bags separately. Keep the four spares for mistakes and don't hand them out for planned projects.
Illustrative example: eight children each get a base bag. Two of them choose the giant Santa (2 extra bags) and one chooses the three-headed snowman (2 extra bags). That makes 8 + 2 + 2 = 12 lunch bags for the planned puppets. Add the 4 spares and you need 16 lunch bags in total. If another child picks the snow family trio, buy 3 snack-size bags as well.
Prepare parts for younger children
For four- and five-year-olds, put pre-cut hats, eyes, ears and noses on a tray. Group each character's parts together so children can start decorating without waiting for shapes to be cut. Children aged six and up who will cut their own parts can share scissors placed at every other seat. Help anyone who needs it.
Check that each child can reach their tray and scissors and still has room for the bag, and choose a separate spot for drying puppets. Our kids party table setup page starts with counting seats for children and any adults sitting with them.
Keep glue sticks at the children's seats. If you use a glue gun for a prop an adult is making, keep that work at the adult table. For younger guests, draw small noses instead of using loose pom-poms. With crayons or markers, children can add cheeks, freckles, buttons and icing lines without waiting for paint to dry. Choose supplies that suit the children using them. Make one sample of the chosen design before party day so you can see how the bag flap moves once the decorations are on.
Children who finish early can keep using the crayons and markers at a separate quiet spot, drawing while others decorate. Our craft party ideas page suggests a quiet option like drawing alongside one main project.
What can children under four make?
Quick answer: Try a sticker-only bag puppet with sticker eyes, dot-sticker ornaments and a hat you attach beforehand. Choose materials that suit the child and help as needed.
A sticker-only version means no cutting or gluing at the table. Before the party, attach the hat yourself and set out the stickers. An adult nearby can help the child press the stickers on and work the bag flap.
Run the craft and show: an example 40-minute session
This example schedule suits simpler bag puppets with the parts already cut. It allows 20 minutes for decorating, 10 for drying and rehearsal and 10 for the show, which adds up to 40 minutes.
| Illustrative time | What happens |
|---|---|
| 0:00-0:05 | Children choose characters. Show how the face sits on the bag flap, hand out named bags and let children start drawing on the bag bodies. |
| 0:05-0:20 | Decorate in groups of four. Four children use the glue station while the others draw, then the groups swap. Put finished puppets in the drying area with the name facing up. |
| 0:20-0:30 | Let the glue dry and rehearse. Treat ten minutes as a starting point and check the puppets before anyone picks them up. Read the scene cards aloud while the puppets rest. |
| 0:30-0:40 | Perform two scenes, then take a group bow and collect the puppets to go home. |
How long does the puppet craft take?
Quick answer: Allow 40 minutes for the example: 20 minutes to decorate, 10 to dry and rehearse, and 10 for the show. Multi-bag projects take longer, and glue may need more time than this drying allowance.
If children choose showstopper builds, or your glue is slow to dry, set aside extra time. If rehearsal finishes before the glue is ready, have one short table game on hand rather than preparing several.
A small set of matching cards works as that one backup game, as long as you make it before the puppet session. Stop at the agreed signal rather than finishing every set. See how to prepare Christmas matching cards.
Rehearse and put on the puppet show
The narrator reads each show card aloud. In the first scene, Santa's hat is missing and the snowman saw what happened. In the second, the sleigh lands in the wrong yard and the reindeer asks a penguin for directions. Children make up a reply for their own puppet.
A couch makes a good stage: puppeteers kneel behind it and the audience sits in front. A bedsheet curtain is optional. If you have time, try the wild card: the audience picks a puppet to teach Santa about something modern, such as a tablet or a vacuum. For the final bow, each puppet can say one thing it likes about Christmas. Afterward, put each named puppet with its owner's belongings, or slide it into a take-home bag once it is dry enough to move.
The finished puppet can be the take-home item, so you may not need a separate favor. Make sure it has its owner's name and has dried before packing. See party activities that double as the favor.
How do we run the puppet show?
Quick answer: Have a narrator read the first two show cards while children hold their puppets up behind the couch. Children can share a role or watch. Pause for applause after each scene, then bring everyone together for the final bow.
Nobody has to perform alone. A shy child can work a puppet alongside a partner or sit in the audience, and the scenes still work.
Use the kit with a classroom or larger group
The same steps work for more children, but you need more copies and more help. Count bags for each child taking part, then add bags for the characters they chose and the spares. Check any classroom or venue rules on supplies and helpers with the school or organizer, because those rules vary.
Can I use the kit in a classroom?
Quick answer: Yes, as a table activity. Print one shared card set or a copy for each table, count bags for the chosen characters and set up a separate supply tray for each table. Assign helpers to cutting and gluing based on the children and the help you have.
If a class includes the birthday child, count that child once in the class total. Only add people who are not already counted, such as visiting siblings who will make a puppet too.
Checklist before children arrive
- Print the cards and set the four show cards aside for the narrator
- Cut the paper parts younger children need and sort them by character
- Write each child's name on a bag
- Set up four places at the glue station and a separate area for drawing
- Choose a shelf, tray or windowsill where puppets can dry without being touched
- Put the extra character supplies together where a helper can find them
- Decide who will narrate and where the audience will sit
- Leave space to collect puppets and belongings before guests leave
This space matters at the end of the party, not during setup. Before collecting adults start arriving, check that each puppet is with its named owner's belongings once it is dry enough to move, and that bags and shoes aren't blocking the way out. If a family leaves early, help them gather their things without stopping the group. The fifteen-minute party reset suggests when to start.
Give that helper the after-craft jobs too: returning unused supplies and clearing scraps, while wet puppets stay apart. Our guide to planning party cleanup so it doesn't fall on the host covers setting up places for belongings.
| Preparation note | Your details |
|---|---|
| Number of children | ______________________________ |
| Characters chosen | ______________________________ |
| Extra bags and character supplies | ______________________________ |
| Parts to cut beforehand | ______________________________ |
| Adult helping with the craft | ______________________________ |
| Place for drying puppets | ______________________________ |
| Narrator and show location | ______________________________ |
| Activity while glue dries | ______________________________ |