How to Make a Sparky Dragon Sock Puppet

Posted by Unknown on 2:12 AM in arts and crafts, craft ideas for kids,

A few months ago, my husband and I read our book, "Dragon Howl" to a large group of children at our public library. After we read the story, we helped the kids make a fun arts & crafts project!
I really wanted the children to imagine "flying with the dragon", and I also wanted the kids to take something home with them, so they could relive the adventure.
Trying to get the "Sparky sock puppet" right took some trial and error, but the end result was great! The children really enjoyed soaring and swooping the dragon around the room! One thing that I would strongly recommend is to use (purchase) red socks instead of dyeing white socks red... When I tried to dye some white socks red, they all turned out pink and soggy (we were afraid to put the socks in the dryer, because we thought they might stain it)... Fortunately, my husband found a few packages of red socks on sale at a local retailer. :) Here are the step-by-step instructions with some pictures. Hope you and your little one enjoys!


You will need:

• red sock
• 1 sheet of red peel-&-stick, adhesive-backed felt paper
• 1 sheet of sparkly orange felt paper
• 2 peel-&-stick wiggly eyes (blue or child's choice of color)
• scissors
• sharpie
• box cutter

Directions:

• Trace both wings and ears on the back of the red felt paper (*I'm providing a sample of both wings and ears)
• Cut both wings and ears
• Trace both wings and ears on the back of the sparkly orange felt paper (*Note: the dull side of the orange felt paper will be placed on the sticky side of the red felt paper, it is an INVERSE, so make sure you are making them match)
• Cut both wings and ears
• Turn the red felt paper wing to the peel side and make a slight cut with the box cutter about one inch from the part of the wing that will attach to the sock body, making sure you ONLY cut the peel-&-stick paper NOT the felt, so that later you can attach the edge of the wing
• Repeat the same procedure for the other wing and both ears
• Peel off the paper from the wing but leave the one inch part that you will later attach to the sock
• Attach the dull orange side of the wing to the sticky side of the red wing felt paper (so the sparkly side will show)
• Cut off the extra inch from the sparkly orange paper (the part that did not stick to the red felt paper)
• Repeat the above two procedures for the other wing and both ears

• Take the Sharpie and draw 5 lines on each of the dragon's wings (5 on the front and 5 on the back)
• Take the Sharpie and draw 3 lines on each of the dragon's ears (3 on the front and 3 on the back)
• Put the sock on your child's right or left arm
• Remove the paper from the red felt wing and attach to your child's upper forearm below the wrist
• Do the same for the other wing
• Remove the paper from the red felt ear and attach to the back of your child's hand below the knuckles
• Do the same for the other ear
• Attach the wiggly eyes to the sock on the back of your child's fingers
• Soar! Swoop! Play and have fun! :D