First-School.ws
Hippopotamus Paper Bag Puppet Craft (Hippo) Preschool Printable Activity

This is one of a collection of easy-to- assemble paper bag puppets for children ages 2+ and older. It can quickly become one of your favorite "teaching and learning helpers" and a great homemade toy! If you don't have paper bags, that's O.K., because it can also be a craft stick puppet printed on card stock.

Materials:

• printer
• paper, card stock or print directly to paper in your color of choice
• coloring tools for B&W template
• scissors
• standard lunch paper bag or, attach to wide craft stick
• glue stick

• Story time helper: The puppet can be your assistant storyteller and reader. It can bring excitement and enthusiasm into the reading time. This puppet "helper" can be one of the characters, and ask questions to the children during and after the reading. Later the children can have fun assembling their own puppet using the black and white version templates.
  
  
• Alphabet: Matching printable activities includes basic animal facts, introduce or reinforce letter recognition and early handwriting skills. You can print the upper and lower case letter on the body of the puppet.
  
  
• Introduce related and new themes: Review topics for this puppet in the themes in the top navigation bar.
  
  
• Nutrition and health | Safety | Character education
  The puppet can be a great aid in those special times when parents need a fun helper, and give that little nudge and friendly reminder to have the children cooperate with chores, learn how to dress themselves, potty training, alleviate the anxiety related to the doctor or dentist visits, or to help introduce a new caregiver, meal times, and safety issues, etc.
  
  
• Music and Physical Activity 'Conductor'> Singing, Dancing, Marching, Finger plays > These puppets are great to get the children in the mood for music and movement.
  
  
• Online Jigsaw Puzzle > Hippopotamus > Have fun with this 6-piece puzzle. Skills > problem solving. Adjust the number of pieces using the 'change cut' link on the left.

Craft Version and Homemade Toy > Coloring version black & white

• Print black & white templates. This version can also be printed directly on color craft paper or construction paper to match a particular character in a book, for a example a story with a "Pink Hippo."
• This version allows the children to be creative and personalize the puppet. Provide a variety of art materials to color, paint and/or decorate the puppet.
  

• The template can be colored and decorated before or after assembly, whichever you or the children prefer. My experience has been that many children like to color and decorate after the pieces are glued to the bag.
  
  
• Assembly instructions: Here is an illustration of how to assemble the craft. Cut about 2 to 2/12 inches off the bottom of the bag or adjust based on the body template. This makes the puppet more comfortable and manageable for the children.
  
  
• Craft Stick Puppet Version:
  Print the templates using card stock or heavy duty construction paper. Tape a craft stick (Popsicle stick | tongue depressor), or an unsharpened pencil on the back of the finished puppet.

Templates:

• Close template window after printing to return to this screen.
• Set page margins to zero (minimum) if you have trouble fitting the template on one page or review Print Help.

Template 1:     color     B&W

Template 2:     color     B&W

Assembly instructions

Complementary activities:

Letter H hippopotamus activities

Animals > Mammals > Hippo or more puppets >