Finger Puppets

Okay, I hate to dwell on the OBVIOUS, but Pinterest is awesome. Justin always disses on it, but seriously, I have found so many valuable ideas on there! Delicious recipes, fun projects, cool ideas, things to do, etc. And here is another one. Finger puppets! Felt is cheap, like 30 cents for a sheet of paper sized piece at Joanne Fabrics. When I came across this idea, I already had several colors of felt, and I already had googly eyes, so it essentially was free. Since they have proved to be a good investment, I have gotten a few more colors and bumped the cost up to a good 2 dollars or so. You do need a glue gun, so I guess you would have to add that cost in as well, unless you have enough patience to wait for Elmer’s glue to dry. I do not.

Here is the link that started the whole thing:

http://www.theidearoom.net/2010/05/finger-puppet-patterns-and-instructions.html

To my credit, I did not purchase any patterns (come on now, be serious). I just copied their idea for free. You’re welcome, People-Trying-To-Make-Money. To THEIR credit, theirs are better than mine. More intricate, and a little classier. But come on now, in the words of Woody from Toy Story, “You are a child’s play thiiinnnggg”. They get the job done.

The first few that I made were in preparation for our upcoming zoo trip Memorial Day weekend:

Justin had looked at the zoo’s website, so we knew what animals they had, and what we could anticipate seeing. (The weather was a little chilly that day, which was awesome, because it meant the animals were up and moving around). So, knowing what was coming, I made Thad a giraffe, a zebra, an elephant and a lion. He absolutely loved them. He thought it was so cool having them on his fingers. (Side note: he also becomes devastated when they fall off his fingers, which happens a lot, so we also use wide popsicle sticks that I had for other crafts labeled for each animal).

For the next couple of weeks, here and there, we would make a few more as our “project”. Once I got going, I got ideas for more and more animals. Actually, I have a few on my mind right now…. Anyway, we have MORE than 2 hands worth at this point. He gets a big kick out of them, and we bring them out every few days so he can fill up his hands with them.

                                                                 OUR WHOLE ZOO:

It has also inspired Thad to make “fingerpuppets” out of many different objects, such as:

Shotgun shells:

And marker caps:

What can I say, whatever floats his boat, I guess…..