Paper puppets are fun and inexpensive but paper dragon puppets are the best! Whether you want to set up a 10 minute, nearly no-mess craft, educate little ones about Chinese New Year, or you just want to incorporate more pretend play into the day, these quick dragon puppets fit the bill.
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The Perfect Craft for Dragon Lovers and Chinese New Year
After the little one saw the movie, “How to Train Your Dragon,” we needed a Toothless and 53 of his closest dragon friends. What I’m saying is that I’ve made a ton of dragon puppets recently, and this one is the best for her small hands. It’s complete happenstance (not awesome planning, mind you) that it only takes 10-minutes to whip out a few of these.
This paper puppet craft is a WIN!
This is dragon paper puppet craft is also a wonderful craft to facilitate discussion on Chinese culture or Chinese New Year. This year, we are incorporating the dragon puppets with one of her favorite books, Tikki Tikki Tembo. There’s a double-page spread of a dragon for the festival that my daughter just loves to talk about – maybe your kids love it, too?
It’s actually one of my favorite books because it’s so much stinkin’ fun to say that kid’s name 100 times. As a refresher… The legend is that Chinese parents used to give their first born son a great long name. Second sons “were given hardly any name at all.”
Firstborn son: Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo.
Second son: Chang.
Supplies for Our Paper Dragon Puppets
Pretty simple supplies for this paper puppet craft:
- construction paper
- tape and glue stick
- googly eyes (optional).
Paper Puppet Craft Instructions
The first set of pictures represents toddler or young child sized paper dragon puppets – it fits their smaller hands better. Tri-fold the paper and remove one section on the long edge.
For a large version, lightly fold the paper in half to find the center. Then fold each edge into the center and secure with tape. Continue folding the body as in step 2 of the image below.
Fold a piece of paper into thirds lengthwise and cut off one of the sections. Fold the paper back in half lengthwise and fold on the width of the paper. Take it just more than halfway and fold it back. Flip it over and do the same thing. Tape up the long side folds (1 piece of tape per section is fine).
Paper Puppet Wings
Using the leftover strip from making the body, make a set of wings by folding the strip in half and cutting a shape. Unfold and cut down the center to get two wings. Attach to the back side of the head with glue and tape. They are going to take a beating, so I recommend both.
Fold up the wing a little so they stand up and can be seen easily. Trim the wings so that your child can stick their hand in the puppet comfortably, but don’t toss those pieces – you can make a nose piece, eyebrows, or a center nose ridge.
Paper Puppet Features (and Tips)
Make nostrils, teeth, tongue, fire, eyes, and any other embellishments for your paper dragon puppets. The only rule is to make sure you leave enough room for a tab of sorts – you are going to fold over a small tab so that each piece is made 3 dimensional. Cool, right?
Make the eyes first so they have time to set up and dry a little. You can add everything in any order you’d like, but I recommend leaving the eyes for last, especially if you’re using googly eyes. For the teeth, be sure to cut slits in the sides so that the teeth fold around the mouth. You are going to want to glue and tape the teeth down, same as the eyes.
Share This or Pin it For Later
So what do you think of our dragon family? It’s ever-growing and they are named, so they must be part of our family now. If you think this was a fun and quick craft, can you please share it on Facebook? We sincerely appreciate it!
If you’d like to see more like this, check out our crafts for kids page. Or, check out some of these:
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Shailee Butalia says
Love this. My husband loves making things since we had our kid. He handmade Halloween shirts for us and made paper monsters to decorate the yard. I’ll have to share this and some of your other projects with him. I think he will love it!
Sheila @ BrainPowerBoy says
These are super neat. I love that the construction is so easy but the finished result is oh so cool. Sharing!
Sarah Nenni-Daher says
Thanks so much, Sheila, and thank you for sharing them. These little dragons have become quite the popular cuties.
Lindsay @Artsy-Fartsy Mama says
This is such a fun idea!! My daughter would love it!!
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Sarah Nenni-Daher says
It’s amazing to me how sturdy paper can be – all of them are still going strong and it’s been weeks! Thanks, Lindsay, for stopping by and I hope you get a chance to set these up for your daughter.
Christina @ I Gotta Create! says
Fantastic! I pinned these and I’ll be featuring you at the party tonight. Thanks so much for linking up!
<3 Christina @ I Gotta Create!
Sarah Nenni-Daher says
Thanks so much for the feature, Christina! See you at the party.
Louisa says
What a great idea! Thanks for sharing. I’m going to share this idea with my sister who anticipates being snowed in this week. I’m sure she will appreciate a little mess craft project idea.
Sarah Nenni-Daher says
It definitely makes for a fun craft indoors, Louisa, because after they’re crafted the real fun begins! I hope they have a great time and thank you so much for stopping by!
Deborah says
How cute! I’m sure your daughter had great fun creating these. I don’t like many carton type movies, but How to Train Your Dragon was great. Thank you for sharing at What We Accomplished Wednesdays. Have a lovely week! ~Deborah
Jen says
Now you’ve gone and done it! My kids love Toothless. They would like to have him as their dragon. Now I can make that wish happen. I will now be making paper dragon puppets with them tonight before dinner! What a great craft and easy. Thanks for sharing Sarah!
Sarah Nenni-Daher says
It really is a quick (almost no mess), Jen. A busy mama definitely needs an arsenal of these! :)
Kelly @ Mum-bo-Jumbo says
These are great! What a fantastic idea, love it. Pinned for future reference so I can make them with my son. #treasureboxtuesday #yesterfood
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Jennifer | The Deliberate Mom says
Ooooh, I just ADORE Tikki, Tikki, Tembo.
This is so darn cute Sarah!
Thanks so much for sharing.
xoxo
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Sarah Nenni-Daher says
If we hear anyone say ‘tiki torch’ or anything close to it, we automatically break out into the whole name. It’s just so much fun to say!
Amanda Love says
Oh I love this and I’m so going to try this with Madison this weekend. While she has no idea what dragons are, she loves making things with me and this is awesome! Thank you. Pinning!
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Sarah Nenni-Daher says
Thank you so much for the pin, Amanda. Post them to Instagram if you make them – I’d love to see.
Tamara says
We love those movies and especially Toothless! I appreciate your detailed photos because I’m not always great at following directions but I think my daughter could help me along with this.
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Rebeccafaith says
I love this project so much! The finished product looks incredible and as if it would be difficult to execute and yet your tutorial makes it look so easy! PINNING!
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Sarah Nenni-Daher says
Thanks, Rebecca. It’s ridiculously easy which is why we now have an army of paper dragons…
Emily, Our house now a home says
These are the cutest! My kids are in love with the How to train your Dragon movie. I think this craft would be a fun one to do with them. Great idea!
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