This dinosaur puppet craft is such a fun activity for kids who love dinosaurs! Made with a brown paper bag and our printable dinosaur puppet templates, kids can make their own T. rex, triceratops, or stegosaurus — perfect for pretend play, story time, or a dinosaur-themed craft day.
These paper bag dinosaur puppets are easy to make with simple supplies like coloured paper, scissors, glue, and markers. Kids can follow the templates exactly, or mix and match to create their own bright, colourful dinosaurs with different spots, stripes, teeth, horns, and spikes!
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How to Make a Dinosaur Puppet
Materials:
Equipment:
See the craft in action:
Instructions:
Step 1: Find what you need
- Gather your supplies and materials.
Step 2: Cut out the template pieces
- Print the dinosaur puppet template of your choice (find a link in the material’s list above). We have options for a T. rex, stegosaurus, and triceratops.Cut out the template pieces.
- Trace the pieces onto cardstock and cut them out.
Step 3: Make the dinosaur head
- If you want the same face structure for your dinosaur puppet as our template has, place the template on top of the cardstock.Then trace the lines with a pencil, pressing hard. This will make indents in the paper for you to follow.
- Trace the indents with a black marker. (You can also make light pencil lines first.)
- Use glue tape on the back of the black inner eye.
- Then connect the inner eye to the larger eye piece. Repeat with the second eye.
- Use a one-hole punch on white cardstock, making 2 holes.
- Glue these small circles onto the black part of the eye. Repeat with the second and then use glue tape to attach the eyes in place.
- Then glue the teeth below the snout line. Start with the center tooth and space the others evenly.
Step 4: Decorate the dinosaur stomach
- Gather several colours or shades of cardstock to decorate the T. rex’s stomach.(Note: our triceratops has a plain stomach, and our stegosaurus has stripes of one colour. You can choose whatever stomach decorations you’d like for your dinosaur.)
- Draw random circles and shapes on the cardstock and cut them out.
- To attach these tiny pieces we found it much easier (and more secure) to use tacky glue. Use a toothpick to add small dots of glue to each piece.
- Arrange the different shapes and glue each one in place.
Step 5: Add the claws and tail decorations
- Add small dots of tacky glue to the end of the arms.
- Press the claws in place on the arms, pointy end out.
- To decorate the tail we cut random wavy strips of cardstock in a complementary colour. Start with a piece of cardstock that’s wider than the tail.
- Use glue tape (or tacky glue) to attach the strips to the tail. They’ll overlap the tail right now, which is fine.
- Then trim the tail decorations down so they fit to the size of the tail.(This is much easier than trying to cut the pieces to a perfect width before gluing!)
Step 6: Put your dinosaur puppet together
- Place the dinosaur head on top of the paper bag, lining it up. The bottom of the bag should be facing up when you do this.
- While holding the head in place, flip the bag over and trace where the head overlaps the bag.
- Add glue tape to the back of the dinosaur head, making sure you don’t put any too low on the face or outside the areas you marked.
- Attach the head to the top of the bag, and then glue the stomach in place.
- Add glue tape to the front top of the arms and attach them inside the bag folds.
- Then add glue tape to the back base of the tail. Attach this inside the bag folds as well, but on the back part.
- Your dinosaur puppet is complete!
- Have fun making every variation of dinosaur, in whatever colours you’d like!
Helpful Tips:
- Check the size of your paper bag: These dinosaur puppet templates are made for a paper bag that’s about 5 inches wide. If your bag is a different size, scale the template up or down before printing so the pieces fit properly.
- Get creative with the colours: Follow our colour schemes for the triceratops, stegosaurus, and T. rex puppets, or choose your own dinosaur colours! You can even mix and match different parts of the templates to create your own custom dinosaur puppet.
Download our free dinosaur puppet templates:
Click on the links or pictures below to download our free, printable dinosaur puppet patterns! The PDF files will open in a new window. Then simply print the template of your choice on 8.5 x 11 (letter size) printer paper or cardstock.
What paper do I need to make these dinosaur puppets?
We recommend using cardstock or scrapbook paper to make the dinosaur puppet pieces. Thicker paper makes a sturdier puppet, so kids can play with it without the tail, arms, horns, or spikes ripping off as easily.
Construction paper will also work if that’s what you have on hand. The pieces will just be a bit more floppy, especially for parts that stick out from the bag, like the tail and arms.
What glue is best for making paper bag dinosaur puppets?
We recommend using glue tape for most of the paper bag dinosaur puppet. It’s easy to use, mess-free, and it won’t wrinkle the paper the way liquid glue sometimes can.
For smaller template pieces, glue tape can be harder to use. Tacky glue or school glue works well for tiny details like claws, teeth, horns, and spots. Use a toothpick or something similar to add a small amount of glue so the paper doesn’t get too wet.
How do I get the same dinosaur face as these puppets?
Place the face template on top of your cardstock piece and trace over the details with a pencil. Press firmly enough to leave light marks in the cardstock underneath, then use those marks as a guide to draw the dinosaur’s face with a marker.
These paper bag dinosaur puppets are such a fun way to bring dinosaurs to life! Kids can make a T. rex, triceratops, stegosaurus, or their own mix-and-match dinosaur.
With the printable templates, simple paper pieces, and a plain brown paper bag, this dinosaur puppet craft is easy to set up and fun to customize. Choose realistic dinosaur colours, bright silly shades, or a completely made-up design. Then get ready for lots of roaring, stomping, and puppet show fun!
Here’s even more dinosaur craft ideas:
Now available
Low-Mess Crafts for Kids Book
72 cute and fun crafts that kids and parents alike can enjoy. All with as little mess as possible!
Where to buy:
You can purchase Low-Mess Crafts for Kids from Amazon, or wherever books are sold:
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