Creating Sock Puppets – A Beginner's Guide

One of the easiest and least expensive types of homemade puppets to create is the sock puppet. Not only can you use accessories to create many different looking sock puppets but the number of characters you can create is limited only by your imagination.

To get started with any sock puppet project, you'll need to first need to locate some socks to work worth. You can either use socks that you already have around the house or buy new Socks for a cleaner and more finished look. Adult socks are best for large puppets but either girls or boys socks can be used.

Before getting started you'll want to give a bit of thought as to the design of your sock puppet character. Think of what kind of puppet you'd like to make (an animal, human, cartoon character, etc.) as these choices can be important while assembling the puppet.

Supplies needed:

Socks, glue gun, felt (this will be for the mouth, so choose the color accordingly), cardboard, chalk, scissors, paper, googly eyes, and any other accessories you want to add. Incidentally, baby socks make great animal ears.

How to make:

1. First, you'll need to draw an oval on your piece of cardboard. This oval will be used as the sock puppet's mouth, so you'll need to take into account the size of the mouth you want your puppet to have. Cut the oval out and fold it in half. If you are designing a puppet that has a pointier nose, then you'll need a diamond shaped mouth piece.

2. Next, place the folded cardboard into the sock so that the ends (either the points or thinest part of the oval) are facing the toe area of your sock. If it looks as though the mouth is too large, then trim it, as you don't want it to stretch the mouth area out of shape. Then place your hand up inside the sock and mark the sock with your piece of chalk where you want the mouth to begin. Cut the toe of the sock off using the line that you created as a guide.

3. Now, take your hand out of the sock and flatten it. Arrange the sock so that the heel faces up and cut away any uneven or excess material from around the mouth area.

4. Now you'll want to glue the cardboard mouthpiece into position using your hot glue gun. The cardboard should lay on top of the sock for this. Place drops of hot glue near the lower part of the mouth and pull the sock up over the edge and press it where the glue is. Do this all around the mouth until the cardboard is secured to the sock. Be sure to press down firmly as you go but be careful not to burn yourself as you do so. You may want to wear rubber gloves while gluing.

5. Finally, you'll need to cut a mouth from the felt that you chose. Use the cardboard mouthpiece that you created as a guide and cut your felt mouth out. Then, glue the felt mouth over the cardboard.

Congratulations! You now have a basic sock puppet form that you can now decorate and style in any way that you like. Use pipe cleaners, buttons or even baby socks to accessorize and give your puppet a more finished look. Not sure what you want the finished puppet to look like? Search on Google for photos of sock puppets to get some great ideas and jumping off points.