Making Articulated Paper Puppets

For Stop-Motion Animation

Materials:● Heavyweight Paper● Pencil● Scissors● Markers & Paint● Hole Punch● Brads/Fasteners

What makes a great puppet?

● Bright colors● Contrast● Interesting silhouette ● Many options for movement● Unique details

Making your puppet:

Step 1.

Plan your character with a sketch.

Step 2.

Decide which body partwill be the main section that other pieces are attached to.

Step 3. Create limbs, wings,fins, tentacles, tails, etc.

Remember to make these pieces asLARGE as you can!

Step 4. Decorate each piece with markers, paint, and colored pencils.

Does your puppet have:fur, feathers, scales, hair, or any other texture details?

Step 5. Layer pieces to see how they will fit together best.

Hole punch where they overlap.

Step 6. Carefully attach pieces together with fasteners.

Gently test all the ways your puppet can move.

Puppet Examples

How can we make our puppets move?We use stop-motion animation. It works by using many images which illustrate objects with very gradual changes. When we speed the images up, the objects look as though they are moving on their own!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYLuzKSbfC8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw80ki6kc-k

Paper Puppet Animation Examples

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqVClEdok8Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1u2_4F2RcE