Cardboard Marionette for Kireei Magazine

November 29, 2010
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I’ve been a fan of the Kireei blog from Spain for a long time, so when they invited me to make a craft for the first issue of their new online magazine I was very excited. The magazine is beautiful even if you don’t read Spanish. It’s free, and you can check it out here if you’d like. (I recommend clicking the fullscreen button on the top left and using the arrow keys on your keyboard to flip the pages!)

The craft I did for them was a simple cardboard version of a marionette that I made a few months ago. Below is the English version of the intro and instructions that are in the magazine. (But it’s still fun to see their version because the design layout of the photos and text is so cool.)

English version of magazine text:

A few months ago I made a marionette out of some wood scraps.  It was very fun to entertain the kids with, but when I let them try to work the puppet, it was too difficult for them.  So I thought it would be fun to make a simple marionette with fewer strings so that even younger kids could enjoy playing with it.  I also decided to make it from cardboard so people can easily try making one at home.
The cardboard marionette worked really well and my kids loved making it walk and jump around.  It would be great to make some more and put on a full puppet show!
Materials:
– Cardboard
– Thread or string
– Scissors
– Tape
– Pens (for decorating the puppet)
Instructions:
1 – Take your cardboard and cut out one large circle and two smaller circles.   (My large circle was 3 inches in diameter and my small circles were 1.5 inches.) Then cut out one strip of cardboard for the handle.
2 – Decorate your puppet however you’d like.  I just made some circles with a black pen.
3 – Cut a short length of thread. (about 3 inches) and tape one end to the back of the puppet and the other end to one of the feet. (see photo).  Do the same for the other leg.
4 – Now cut two long pieces of thread (about 15 inches each) and tape to the back of the puppet, then tape the other ends to the cardboard handle. (see photo).  Now start your puppet show!

13 Responses
  7. zzoe

    ciao, hallo
    i'm italian crafts mums… I'll apply your idea of marionette to Christmas … and the result was fantastic!
    you can see he photo on my blog….
    thank's for you simply but original, recycling ideas for kids.
    Sara

  10. Anna Pietrolungo

    Hi there Joel,

    I discovered your website some time ago but haven’t been following it until today when I discovered you also post craft ideas for small children. I’m an Art teacher from Melbourne, Australian. Earlier in the year my prep classes did an interpretation of your beautiful bicycle art work. The results were amazing. This term I have been asked to make lots of toys for my year 1 and 2 classes and got stuck. I’m so glad I came across you today. I hope you don’t mind but I will be using your great ideas with my students. Thanks and G’Day from Down Under. Anna:)