Socks Puppet – Man

Objective

To help teachers in creating a puppet of a Man for story-telling and other purposes.

Estimated time to create the LTM

60 to 90 Minutes

Materials required for activity

  • White Chart paper- for the Eyes, mouth 
  • Hard stock paper for paper pipe 
  • Rectangular shaped cloth for the body part of the puppet
  • Needle and thread for stitching the body 
  • Sock – 1 no.
  • Cotton Roll
  • Marker Pens – Black and Red
  • Pencil and Eraser
  • Creepers for hair
  • Thick Threads for tying 
  • Stapler with pin
  • Fevicol  
  • Scissors

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

  • First, we will make the dress or body for the puppet. Take a cotton cloth, fold into two and spread it on a flat surface.
  • Draw the outline for the shape of the body (with neck, arms and torso). Cut along the drawn outline, using scissors. We got two pieces of cloth for the body, now. 
  • Reverse the pieces, place them one above another (with the good side facing inwards). Join the pieces with stitches along the sides of the body and arms.
  • Now the neck hole at the top and the bottom part will be open. Fold the cloth for about half an inch, along the open edges and stitch around. Take care not to close the openings.
  • For the head, first make a strong paper pipe, using a strip of thick paper. Apply fevicol around one edge of the paper pipe, for about one inch of its length. Take a handful of cotton and fix it on the applied fevicol by holding tightly for a few seconds. Repeat over and over, for a few more layers, until we get a ball shaped head. Allow to dry.
  • Take a sock, cut and remove the upper portion. Insert the cotton ball with pipe into the sock. Place it in the bottom most part of the sock.
  • Take three small cotton pieces and shape them for ears and nose. Insert them inside the socks and place them on the cotton ball, in their appropriate positions. After placing, stitch the ears and nose to the socks, so that they are firmly held in place.
  • Take a piece of white paper. Draw and cut the shapes for eyes and lips. Paste them on the face using fevicol. Draw the eyes on the pasted paper, using Black marker and lips using Red marker.
  • For the hair, cut required length of the creepers and fix them on the head part of the sock, using fevicol.
  • For the moustache, cut two pieces of equally shaped creepers and fix them below the nose.
  • Similarly, use creepers and fix the eyebrows. Now the head of the puppet is ready.
  • Hold the head firmly and tie a knot below the ball, using a thick thread. Remember we are going to use the finger pipe fixed inside the sock, for the head movements.
  • Now, holding the tied ball portion of the sock outside, insert the remaining part of the sock into the hole provided for the neck in the dress. Still holding the ball above the neck projection, secure the sock to the dress, using a thick thread.  
  •  Draw and cut the shape of the hand out of a piece of white paper. Fix it at the ends of the projections given for the arms. Care is to be taken to fix the hands with the thumb facing upwards.
  • Allow few minutes to dry and our glove/ socks puppet is ready.   
  • Insert your forefinger/ index finger into the paper pipe for the head. Your thumb into one arm projection and the remaining fingers into the other arm projection. 
  • Move your fingers to demonstrate the movement of hands and head of a Man.

Step by Step Pictures to create the puppets

Important Tips

  1. The dress can be stitched by hand using thread and needle or can be tailor made.
  2. We can attach black coloured paper for hair, instead of using ‘creeper’ (artificial hair which we wear in drama make-up)
  3. To enable the gluing process faster, glue drops/ glue gun or stapler can be used instead of using fevicol.
  4. Wedding cards / book covers can be used instead of drawing sheets. 
  5. For reference we can take images from drawing books or the internet. 
  6. 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.
  7. 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.

Instructions to the Teacher 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.