Stick people – woodland puppet craft tutorial
There is honestly nothing more rewarding than a craft project where the bulk of the materials are FREE! And even better, and you know this about me now, a craft project that’s ‘extended’ – and by that I mean, going out into the woods, and FORAGING those craft materials – remember – whatever you do, don’t say “let’s go for a walk” – it’s all about the “adventure!”
And the brief for that ‘adventure’? Sticks that would look a bit like a BODY – so a three pronged stick – (think, neck, head and two arms).
And then as many of nature’s accessories as you can carry for your woodland puppet creation!
Dried seed pods; feathers, acorn cups, leaves, seeds – and moss too – the more you collect, the more options you have to be creative.
We really like Air Drying Clay – as it’s so simple to use at home or in the classroom – we found a good clay without any plastic fibres too – click here: Gedeo non firing clay, which we highly recommend (you can find similar in the US click here aff. links for your convenience)
So it’s pretty simple really – see the photos for reference and inspiration.
Position your sticks – you may need to break the arms down to the right length, that sounds bad right?!
But you know what I mean…
And then select your puppets eyes, ears, and fingers as the basics.
Grab three small lumps of the air drying clay, and roll them into balls, one large and two medium for the hands.
Gently push the balls of clay onto the ends of the three pronged sticks, squeeze the clay so that it’s tight on the sticks.
Then you’ll need to act swiftly, as – guess what, the air drying clay, dries in the air!
Shape the head and add texture, or leave just as a lump – and then…..
Start assembling and creating your puppets – this is so much fun – honestly, just use your imagination, build the puppet’s faces up, and add a leafy scarf and some crazy moss hair!
Just have fun… { with thanks to Tamsin Young and @coldatnight at @fforestgather for the genius inspiration and woodland creations – we love these woodland creatures ? }
More woodland creations from Tamsin Young – pencils!
Follow the kids over on @KidsChaos_Blog on instagram and me too at @incredibusy of course!
Even more clay craft ideas here:
And if you like puppets – check out the craft stick puppets here:
The authors, Kate and Kathy are amazing people – truly great mates, and I really want to tell you all about their venture – so I asked them to SHARE what they’ve been up to. read on…. (oh, and btw, it’s not just you, the word dyslexic, is one of the hardest words for me to spell – I literally have to check it each time I type it – interestingly 1 in 10 people are dyslexic – I BET you know someone who has dyslexia right?)
We both have dyslexic children, and know the heartache that comes along with watching your child try so hard at school and not achieving the results maybe their friends are. This can be very confident eroding for a young child not understanding why all their efforts are ‘not enough’ to keep up.
My older boys aren’t quite as keen as crafting with me as they were when they were little… however, they do have a NEW hobby… and that is – collecting Cacti – (yep, that’s the plural of Cactus, and probably all I can tell you about these little prickly plants – apart from the word ‘succulent’ which, it turns out, is a very popular hashtag on instagram…)
So first – smoothies – make it up as you go along, however here’s what’s in this one (makes two portions)…
buying these straws mean producers can plan for the future rather than live a a hand to mouth existence.
Needless to say, with time of the essence, packing light for a weekend away – we need to employ classic ethical minimalism for these city breaks which means avoiding putting your luggage in the hold, and that delay at the carousel once you’ve landed…
Denmark was first on this list – and a quick 
Having spent some time (ticking the instagram box) at the obligatory colourful buildings at Nyhavn, the 17th-century canal waterfront, we took a trip for lunch, cycling over the impressive walkways, over to nearby Paper Island at the Copenhagen Harbour – buildings brimming full of creativity from art to street food. (previously these industrial buildings were home to paper storage for the Danish Press, hence the name).
Apart from food and cycling, for the boys it seems, graffiti – and capturing the BEST graffiti on camera, was their weekend challenge – The most photogenic of these for them is located in Christiana. The former military barracks, covering 84 acres this ‘self governing free town’ was founded in 1971 by squatters and artists as a “social experiment.”
A gift guide like no other – Inspired by the impending Star Wars™ movie – The Last Jedi
PIN IT – 
