Under the Sea Puppet Craft (Free Template)

From preschool and beyond, kids love puppets! We use them for book reports, role play, and most of all for telling stories.

This Under the Sea puppet craft will keep the kids busy for hours.

Gather your materials

Free template (click here to download)
Colors
Scissors
Magnets (Purchase from craft stores like Michaels, Hobby Lobby)
Magnetic surface: Refrigerator, whiteboard, cookie sheet

Download the free template

After cutting out the images attach magnetic strips to the back. Self-sticking magnetic tape is the best! Make sure that the magnetic strip covers the back of the images wherever objects must attach from the front.

Lamination makes for long lasting paper dolls, however, I have had a few issues with the glue not sticking to the lamination.

(Get magnetic strips from Hobby Lobby, Michaels, and most craft stores.)

You can make a background from construction paper.

We cut out water and sand and taped this to the play-surface (frig).

The magnetic puppets fit nicely right on top.

Use your clipart to make your own personalized puppets

If you have a computer and a typing program (Word, Google Docs, Pages, etc.) you can make puppets about hobbies, sports, fashion, anything!

Pull out your favorite clipart.

Pull the images onto your page just like the download above.

Enlarge or reduce the images to fit the page.

Leave enough space around the images to make them easier to cut out.

(Do you have a beginning reader? Make some magnetic Alphabet Pictures)

Use Themed Clipart to Teach

When kids have pictures of flowers, bugs, animals, and spring rain clouds, it is easy to understand what spring is all about.

Do your children like sports, ballet, or princess themes? Do you want to teach a lesson on community helpers, seasons, or historical figures? There are tons of clipart sets that you can turn into teaching tools

Cut out pictures from old books or magazines. Here are some examples of thematic clipart from Karen’s Kids collections: holidays, seasons, community helpers, historical figures, music, conflict resolution, sports, etc..

Play Areas

TRAVELING? A cookie sheet and sets of colorful magnetic paper doll kids are the perfect travel companion.

CLASSROOMS A white board allows kids to draw scenes for their stories. It is a little messy.

BUSY IN THE KITCHEN? If you are busy in the kitchen the refrigerator is a perfect play area for little guys.

My favorite part of this activity is watching the kids give voices to the characters and tell stories.

DIY Magnetic Back to School Paper Doll Kids Activity FREE

DOWNLOAD this ready to print and use activity to see how magnetized paper doll kids work for you.

Magnetize Flash Cards, Phonics Cards and More

Make and magnetize flash cards, spelling cards, word skills cards and more to make teaching a hands-on activity for your kids. I used my clipart to make the A-Z phonics cards and labels (above). Magnetic tape was added to the backs of the picture cards and the label cards. Look how easy it is to set up a MATCH THE PICTURE to the WORD station on your white board or refrigerator.