Objective

To help teachers in creating a puppet of a man’s face for story-telling and other purposes.

Estimated time to create the LTM

30 to 45 Minutes

Materials required for activity

• Thick chart paper- Yellow colour- for the Face, Nose, Ears and paper pipe  
• White chart paper – small pieces for eyes and lips
• Stapler with pin
• Pencil
• Fevicol  
• Scissors
• Marker Pen Black and Red

Preparation of activity

Keep the materials ready.  If you are using hot glue instead of Fevicol, ensure that the hot glue is heated suitably and is ready for use.

Procedure

• This face puppet is relatively bigger in size.
• For the face, take a wide strip of thick chart paper. 
• Roll the chart paper to form a hollow cylinder, such that the shorter edges of the paper overlap. 
• This overlap should be smaller at the top and gradually become bigger at the bottom. 
• This will give the Jaw part of the face a broader shape than the forehead part.
• Holding the overlap as above, staple the sheet both at the top and bottom. Now the hollow face is ready. 
• Using another small piece of yellow chart paper, cut a triangle for the nose.
• Ensure that the size for the nose is proportionate to the size of the face made earlier. 
• Fold this triangle and crease in the middle.
• Then, slightly fold at the edges of the left and right-side triangles. Trim the excess projections, if needed. 
• Apply fevicol over the folded edges and fix the nose firmly, on the centre of the face.
• For the eyes, fold a small piece of white sheet into two.
• Draw ‘an eye’ with a pencil, on one side of the sheet and cut along the shape using scissors, to get a pair of eyes.
• On this, draw the outline for the eye and eyeball using a black marker.
• Reverse the pieces, apply fevicol on the border and fix them on the face, spacing them equally from the nose.
• For the ear, take a piece of yellow chart paper. Fold it into two and draw the shape of the ear.  Cut along the outline to get the pair of ears.
• Slightly fold along the inner edge of the ear, apply fevicol and fix them on the sides of the face. Take care to maintain equal spacing from the eye, on both sides.
• Take a piece of white paper. Draw the outline for the lip and cut along this outline.
• Colour it using the red marker pen.
• Apply fevicol on its reverse and fix it on the face, just below the nose.
• For the hair, take a wide strip of black chart paper. The length should be sufficient enough to fit around the forehead.
• Make thin cuts along the entire length of the strip, with the cuts going only upto 3/4^ths of the width of the paper. Take care not to cut closer to the edge.
• Apply fevicol along the uncut edge of the paper strip and stick it around the head. Hair is now ready.
• In the face, to smoothen the Jaw and sides, slice and remove the excess paper as required. 
• Now, for the paper pipe, take a strip of yellow chart paper. Roll it to fit the size of your hand and paste the edges to form the pipe.
• Place the pipe, inside the hollow portion of the face, behind the nose and lips. Fix it using fevicol.  
• Draw the brows above the eyes, using black markers.
• Allow a few minutes to dry and the puppet is ready.The puppet is now ready to be used as a “Boy”.
• Draw a moustache below the nose using a black marker. Now, it can be used as a “Man”
• Insert your hand into the paper pipe. Move the head to demonstrate the boy or man.

Step by Step Pictures to create the puppets

Important Tips

1. Instead of using black coloured paper for hair, we can attach a “creeper” (artificial hair used in drama makeup) for a more realistic look.
2. Wedding cards / book covers can be used instead of drawing sheets. 
3. For reference we can take images from drawing books or the internet. 
4. While creating the puppet, replicate the character illustration given in the children’s textbook. Once the puppet is ready, use the character’s name from the textbook. Using the name in the textbook helps children to remember the content.
5. The teacher should use the puppet at an appropriate time. The teacher can narrate the story in a humorous manner.   The teacher may make intentional mistakes to encourage children to correct them, thereby helping them become more actively engaged.

Precautions

Precautions to be taken while manipulating finger puppets:

1. Always keep the face of the puppet towards the audience.
2. Focus of the Puppet Master should be on the puppet.
3. Puppets that are talking are only activated.  Other puppets should remain in a still position.

Troubleshooting:

1. While making a paper pipe, take the exact size of your finger/hand which you are using. It aids in the proper movement of the puppet.
2. Use a cutter to make holes.
3. Holes that you are making should be exactly the size of your fingers. If the hole is big, the puppet cannot fit on your fingers. If the hole is small, you cannot insert your fingers.

Notes to the Teacher

Puppets can be used in the classroom to teach children about emotions. They are a valuable tool for teaching rhymes, songs, stories and more. Using puppets also aids in developing motor skills, such as hand-eye coordination. Additionally, puppets can enhance communication and social skills, improve focus and concentration and help teach concepts and values.

Using the LTM

The teacher can demonstrate a ‘Puppet Show’.  Teachers can encourage the students to create these puppets and have a ‘Puppet Show’ in the classroom.

Video: How to use LTM

Source and Attribution of images All images used in the above Assets and Aids are originally created.

This digital material has been developed by the Sri Sathya Sai Vidya Vahini Inclusive Education Project, a unit of Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust, Prasanthi Nilayam, as a collaborative offering in the service of our nation.