Crafts for Kids: Groundhog Pop Up Puppet

Here is a cute groundhog craft that you can make to celebrate Groundhog Day. But this little pop up toy is so cute, you might want to make it any old day!

To make a pop up groundhog, all you need is a paper cup, a popsicle stick, and some brown paper. For the cup, you can use any size paper cup (plastic cups or styrofoam cups are good too). The bigger the cup, the bigger the groundhog can be. For paper, you can use brown construction paper or a brown paper grocery bag or lunch bag. You can also use brown craft foam in you prefer.

If you don't have a popsicle stick handy, you can make a "stick" by cutting one out of cardboard. You can use a cereal box as the cardboard. Glue two or three layers of cereal box cardboard together then cut out a stick shape. Multiple layers will make the cardboard stick more sturdy.

Start by cutting a slit in the bottom of the cup. Then put your popsicle stick through the slit and test it to see if it will move up and down easily. Then pull the stick down so the top of the stick is just about 1/2 inch below the top of the cup. Make a mark on the stick at the slot on the cup. This mark will let you know how far down your little groundhog can go on the stick.

Cut simple oval and circle shapes out of brown paper to make your groundhog. You can use a long oval for the body, a circle for the head, and little half circles for the ears. Then glue the shapes onto the stick, making sure you don't go below the line you drew.

Decorate the face of the groundhog by either drawing on facial features or by gluing on eyes, an nose and drawing on a mouth. Your groundhog can be as simple or as elaborate as you like.

You can also paint your cup green to make it look like grass. If you don't have paint, you can cover the cup with green paper. You can even cut green grass shapes out of paper and glue the grass to the top of the cup.

When all your pieces are ready, just stick the popsicle stick through the slot and pull it down to hide the groundhog. Then push the stick up to make the groundhog pop up! You can see an animated image of a simple groundhog pop up puppet if you click here. You can see a more elaborate groundhog puppet if you click here.

You are not limited to making only a groundhog puppet. You can make a bunny pop out of the cup or a cat, dog, or bird. You can make an entire pop up puppet zoo!

Sources for the link images:

www.enchantedlearning.com

www.activityvillage.co.uk