Animal Finger Puppets

While working on an animal themed baby shower for a friend I decided that we needed some cute finger puppets to be part of the decorations. Unfortunately for me, everywhere I looked, all I could find for patterns were ones that you had to purchase. I knew that I could design some myself. So after looking at lots of pictures of finger puppets online, I started drawing and cutting.

Attached are the patterns that I designed for these cute little guys. See full instructions after the jump.

What you'll need:

• Pattern
• Assorted colors of felt
• Googly eyes
• Tacky glue
• Needle and thread (optional)
• Sewing machine (optional)
• Sharpie (optional)

The body is the same for every animal with the exception of the peacock. Start by cutting out two pieces of felt for the body of the animal you are making and either stitch or glue along the dotted line to make them into a sleeve for your finger.

Frog: Cut out head and legs from felt. Attach eyes using tacky glue and either stitch or draw on mouth. Glue head onto front of finger sleeve, and legs onto back of sleeve. Allow to dry.

Pig: Cut out head, nose, and ear pieces from felt. Attach eyes using tacky glue and either stitch or glue on nose and ear pieces. (For me it was much easier to glue the ear pieces on since they're so small). Either stitch or draw on mouth and nares. Attach head to finger sleeve with tacky glue. Allow to dry.

Monkey:  Cut out head and nose from darker felt. Cut out eye, mouth, and ear pieces from lighter felt. Either stitch or glue eye piece and mouth piece to head first. Attach nose piece over the seam where eye and mouth piece meet. (Again, either stitch or glue). Attach ear pieces and googly eyes with glue. Stitch or draw on mouth. Attach head to finger sleeve with tacky glue and allow to dry. * Bonus piece for monkey not on pattern: cut out a cute tail and glue it on the back.

Lion: Cut out head, mane, and nose pieces from appropriate felt. Either stitch or glue head onto mane and nose onto face. Glue eyes on and either stitch or draw on whiskers and mouth. Attach to finger sleeve with tacky glue and allow to dry.

Bear: Use same instructions and pattern as for lion without mane or whiskers

Peacock: The peacock is the only puppet that uses a different body piece than the rest of the puppets as its head is attached and the feathers are what's added. Cut out the body/head, beak, feathers, and 5 feather inserts. Stitch or glue around dotted line of body/head piece to form finger sleeve. Attach beak and googly eyes to head with tacky glue. Glue or stitch feather inserts onto large feather piece. Once dry, glue or stitch large feather piece onto body at base of finger sleeve. Allow to dry.

That's all there is to it. Feel free to take my basics and add your own flare to them. I'd love to see any other types of animals you can come up with!