Have a Conversation with Your Puppet about Your Day
Make or use a simple puppet and practice having a conversation about your day, describing events, feelings, and asking questions.
Step-by-step guide to have a conversation with your puppet about your day
Step 1
Choose whether you will make a sock puppet or a paper bag puppet.
Step 2
Put your puppet base and all your materials on a clear work surface.
Step 3
Use markers or crayons to draw a mouth and eyes on your puppet base.
Step 4
Add hair or other features by gluing or taping fabric scraps buttons or stickers to your puppet.
Step 5
Put your puppet aside and let any glue dry completely.
Step 6
Slide your hand into the puppet and practice opening and closing its mouth.
Step 7
Give your puppet a name by saying it out loud once.
Step 8
Pick one thing that happened today that you want to talk about.
Step 9
Use your puppet to tell that short story in one or two sentences.
Step 10
Ask your puppet a question about feelings using words like happy sad excited or tired.
Step 11
Use the puppet to answer the question and say why it feels that way.
Step 12
Take turns with the puppet for three short back-and-forth lines where you describe ask and answer.
Step 13
Try using a different voice or gesture for the puppet to show how it feels.
Step 14
Show your puppet conversation to a grown-up or friend.
Step 15
Share your finished creation on DIY.org
Final steps
You're almost there! Complete all the steps, bring your creation to life, post it, and conquer the challenge!
Help!?
What can we use if we don't have a sock, paper bag, fabric scraps, or buttons?
If you don't have a sock or paper bag for the puppet base (step 1), use a clean mitten or folded cardstock and replace fabric scraps or buttons from step 4 with yarn, colored paper, or stickers, securing them with tape if you lack glue.
My puppet's features keep falling off—what should I try?
Press glued pieces firmly and let them dry completely as instructed in step 5, or use tape or stitch buttons and clothespins to hold parts while drying so you can practice opening and closing its mouth from step 6.
How can I change the activity for different ages?
For toddlers, focus on step 3 drawing and step 6 practicing the mouth with a one-word emotion; elementary kids can use steps 9–12 to tell one- to two-sentence stories and do the three back-and-forth lines; and older kids can explore complex feelings in step 10 and record a short performance to share on DIY.org (step 15).
How can we make the puppet conversation more creative or personal?
Build a simple cardboard stage, add costume pieces from step 4, experiment with different voices and gestures from step 13, and record the finished show to share on DIY.org as in step 15.
Watch videos on how to have a conversation with your puppet about your day
Teaching with Puppets for Beginners
4 Videos
Teaching with Puppets for Beginners
Using puppets to get children talking in English
How To Make A Puppet Talk | Puppetry Techniques | Lip Sync
Part 2 - How to Make Your Puppet Talk
Facts about puppet play and communication skills
👂 Conversing with a puppet helps build listening, turn-taking, and question-asking — key social skills for school and friendships.
🧠 Pretend play (like talking with a puppet) boosts vocabulary and helps children practice telling stories and sequencing events.
🎭 Puppetry is one of the world’s oldest storytelling arts — evidence shows puppets have been used for over 3,000 years.
🩺 Puppets are often used in therapy and hospitals to help kids express feelings, understand procedures, and reduce anxiety.
🗣️ Using a puppet can make shy or reluctant children speak more freely because they’re role-playing a character.
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