Cat Puppet and Activities

Paper bag puppets are easy and fun for kids to make and use.  I do a few of these including a mother kangaroo with a joey in her pouch, but that one will come later under the Hopping theme.

The view below shows how the mouth is oriented so that it can open and close while moving the bottom of the bag with a hand inside.

This particular craft requires no coloring, only gluing onto the paper bag.  Here is the file containing all the parts of the tiger cat:

Paper Bag Cat Puppet Parts

SONG

The song I sing before doing this craft is the folk song "The Cat Came Back" adapted by Fred Penner and further adapted by me for Literacy Day at the library:

Follow this link to download the MP3 for this song

Follow this link to guitar chords and lyrics for this song

ACTIVITY

The activity for this craft features some of the famous Letter People who had their own TV show back in the 1960's.  The Letter People we will be using are:

And here is a file that contains full page pictures of these Letter People:

 Letter People for the Cat Activity

The cats of the Letter People have run off and it is up to the kids to follow the clues to make sure the right cats get back to the right Letter People.  For example, all Mr B. Beautiful Button's cats have clues related to the letter B in their pictures as well as the letter B itself for those who know their letters or can match the letter with the one they see on Mr Button's page.

Here is the file that contains all the cats to find:

Cats to Find 

 

The National Film Board of Canada did a wonderful animated film version of 

The Cat Came Back 

 BOOKS

There is an excellent book based on Fred Penner's version of the song:

The Cat Came Back  

There is no shortage of great cat books available for kids, starting with the classic by Dr Seuss:

The Cat in the Hat

The Brightly Site:  Raising Kids that Love to Read has a good list of kid's cat books:

Here, Kitty, Kitty… 20+ Children’s Books 

That Are the Cat’s Meow

 

Index of Past Posts

 

 20.  Eagle and Wren Craft and Activities

 19.  The Elf's Hat Craft and Activities

 18.  Where is Bear? Craft and Activities

 17.  Turtle Craft and Activities

 16.  Frosty the Snowman Craft and Activities 
  
15.  Toboggan Craft and Activities
  
14.  Three Little Pigs Craft and Activities
    
 13.  Stand Up Shark Craft and Activities 

 12.  Kangaroo Puppet Craft and Activities

11.  Deep Sea Diorama and Activities

10.  Mixed Up Monsters, Songs and Activities

09.  Totem Pole Craft and Activities

08.  Penguin Craft and Activities

07.  Gorilla Craft and Activities

06.  Ladybug Craft and Activities

05.  Origami Sailboat and Activities

04.  Cat Puppet and Activities

03.  Dinosaur Crafts and Activities

 

02.  Stand Up Moose Craft and Activities 

 

01.  Free and Easy Crafts for Kids - Introduction

Dinosaur Crafts and Activities

This is a simple stand up dinosaur using regular paper and glued to a green base made of construction paper.

The Dinosaur Craft file below contains the Ankylosaurus, Velociraptor and Triceratops, as well as a oval template for the base:

Dinosaur Craft File

DINOSAUR ACTIVITY

This activity is a Dinosaur Hunt.  First we look at poor Mr Hammond who has lost all his dinosaurs:

Download the file with the Dinosaur Park Sign
 and Mr Hammond as well as some palm trees

Now we sing to poor Mr Hammond (to the tune of  "Where Has My Little Dog Gone"):

Oh where, oh where have my dinosaurs gone?

Oh where, oh where can they be?

With their great big eggs,

And their big, long legs,

Oh where, oh where could they be?

Oh where, oh where have my dinosaurs gone?

Oh where, oh where can they be?

With their big, long necks

And their big, sharp teeth

Oh where, oh where could they be?

 We spread out a bunch of colored dinosaurs:

Dinosaurs to Find

Hold up the picture of a dinosaur and ask if someone can find it.

                    Big Dinosaur Pictures to Hold Up

As we find them, we bring them back to Mr Hammond:

SONG

Here is a dinosaur song I wrote to go with this storytime.  It can be sung, or recited as a poem:

Go Here to Download MP3 
of Dinosaur at the Door  

 

Go here to download the guitar chords and lyrics

for Dinosaur at the Door

DINOSAUR BOOKS 

Here are some recommended dinosaur books: 

Little Grunt and the Big Egg

 

 

All Aboard the DINOTRAIN

 

Dad's Dinosaur Day

Danny and the Dinosaur

Stand Up Moose Craft and Activities

For this craft, kids take some pre-cut pieces and assemble them into a stand-up moose.  Kids can color the parts as they wish.   A glue stick should be used to glue on the antlers and tail.

Here is the pattern to print on a standard page (8.5 x11 inches) of card stock and cut out:

You can download and print the above image or use a PDF file:

Moose Craft

Here are the assembly instructions:

Cut out the moose parts.  I would suggest using an x-acto knife or a wall paper knife which is like a box-cutter but smaller.  Box-cutters are too big to do careful curves and fine work.  

The pieces are:  the body, head, antlers and tail

 

 Fold the body of the moose along the center back line and then fold out the neck flaps as shown:
 

Fold the head section as shown and use the cutting knife to cut the middle slit where the neck flaps will be inserted:

Insert the neck flaps through the slit you cut in the head section.  Once the head is attached you are now ready to use a glue stick to add the antlers and tail:

SONG

Here is a moose song that I wrote to go with this craft.  It can be sung or simple recited as a poem:

Download MP3 of Bull Moose on the Loose

Here is a file containing the guitar chords and lyrics for anyone to play: 

Bull Moose on the Loose
Guitar Chords and Lyrics 

ACTIVITY

Here is a simple matching activity that I would use with this craft:

You cut out some animal tracks and spread them around on the floor.  Use an x-acto knife or a wall paper knife as shown (NOT a box-cutter which is too big for fine work):

 Here is a file of animal tracks:

Animal Tracks to Cut Out

You hold up a picture of an animal and its tracks and ask the kids to find the tracks you cut out and spread around.  Here is a file of full page pictures of animals and their tracks:

Animals and Their Tracks

 BOOKS

Here is a list of moose books that I would choose from to read before doing this craft:

Moose Tracks by Karma Wilson

If You Give a Moose a Muffin

or any other Give a Moose book!

Elliot's Noisy Night 

or any other Elliot the Moose book!

Free and Easy Crafts for Kids

Welcome to the Free and Easy Crafts for Kids! 

For many years I ran a storytime session for pre-schoolers at our local library.  For these storytimes, I developed many quick and easy paper crafts and related activities.  I would always pre-cut items so that the kids could concentrate on coloring, gluing and assembling.  Prior to the craft session I would always read a related story.

This blog provides free printable sheets for these crafts along with assembly instructions, related activities, songs and links to related books that I enjoyed reading aloud to pre-schoolers.

All of these crafts and activities have been "field tested" over years and often tweeked and changed to improve them and make them more fun for kids.

The aim was fun and learning, and making learning fun.  All of these crafts are easy for kids to put together with only a little adult assistance.

Some parents and care givers seemed to believe that coloring was an activity that discouraged creativity in kids, but I have found that kids find many creative ways to color:  using poka-dots, combining colors, doing stripes of different colors and many other variations.  Coloring can be just as creative as any other activity if you let the kids go to it in their own way!