DLTK's Crafts for Kids
Paper Bag Bunny Craft

contributed by Leanne Guenther

This is a fun and easy cut and paste paper craft that uses a paper bag as a base to make a rabbit puppet.

You can either print just template #1, template #1 & #2 or all three templates.
- The more children you have per adult and the younger the children are, the simpler (less templates) you want the craft to be.
- If you aren't sure how many templates you should use, print all 3, but hide #2 and #3. If the kids make it through #1 and are eager for more, bring out the others. If they are tired of crafting, save them for another day.
Color (as required) and cut out the template pieces.

I'm going to walk through this slowly. Look at your paper bag.
It should be closed and flat like a piece of paper. Just like when they are brand new.
On one side, it's all smooth. This will be the BACK of your puppet
- It's important that all the kids get the back and front straight at the beginning!
On the other side there's a flippy tab (which is typically the bottom of the bag when you're carrying your lunch around...)
- This flippy tab will be the HEAD
Lift the flippy tab up a bit. Underneath of the tab will be the mouth,
- When the child puts her hand in the bag, she'll be able to make the bunny talk.
Look at the rest of the front of the bag. (The 3/4 or so of the bag below the part with the flippy tab) This will be the BODY.
Look at the sides of the bag. There should be a FLAP of paper.
- We'll be slipping the arms (template 2) into this flap.
- If the kids goof and glue the arms onto the front or back of the bag, it isn't a big deal.
OK, now that we're comfy with our bags, let's craft!

Glue the teeth (white rectangles) underneath the flippy tab, so that most of them show when the tab is closed. When the flippy tab is flat down, the teeth should be easy to see.
Glue the nose (sort of an upside down rectangle shape) onto the HEAD above the mouth. If you like, You can use a large pink pom pom for the nose instead of the paper template piece.
Glue the eyes onto the HEAD above the nose. If you like, you can use wiggly eyes instead of the paper template pieces.
Glue the cheeks (two circles) onto the HEAD.
You can paint the BODY and BACK of the bag with white or grey paint if you like.
Glue a cotton ball onto the BACK of the bag for a bunny tail.

Glue the arms into the FLAP.
Glue the bow under the mouth for a boy or on top of the head (on an ear for a girl).

Glue the buttons onto the front of the bag.
Glue the basket onto the bottom of the bag (so it looks like it's sitting by the feet), or into one of the bunny's hands.

Close the template window after printing to return to this screen.
Set page margins to zero if you have trouble fitting the template on one page (FILE, PAGE SETUP or FILE, PRINTER SETUP in most browsers).