Caroline
One of my daughter’s favorite bedtime stories is Bear’s New Friend by Karma Wilson (affiliate link). She loves every book out of the series but especially loves reading all about Bear’s new friend, Owl.
It’s a great read aloud story and more often than not, my daughter recites the book along with me as I read it because we’ve read it so many times. 😉
In honor of this adorable story we made this Bear’s New Friend Craft. These bear and owl finger puppets are so cute and your child will enjoy imaginative play time with these two fun characters.
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Supplies Needed:
– brown, light brown and orange cardstock paper
– googly eyes
– black marker
– white chalk marker (optional)
– white feather
– ¾-inch circle punch
– scissors
– glue
Step-by-step guide:
1. Cut out your shapes
Start by cutting out the pieces you’ll need from your cardstock paper. For the owl you’ll need a brown circle about 3¼-inch and a 2-inch circle (cut in half). Cut a half circle notch out of the top of your larger circle and then punch two holes in the bottom of the circle with your ¾-inch circle punch. You will also need to cut out a small orange triangle for your beak.
For the bear you’ll need a 3 1/4-inch brown circle, a 2½-inch brown circle and a 1-inch light brown circle. Cut two holes out of the bottom of your largest circle with your 3/4-inch circle punch and save the circles to use for the bear ears.
2. Glue all shapes together
Glue all of the pieces together to make your animals (see pictures).
3. Decorate your animals
Finish your bear and owl finger puppets by adding finishing details. For your bear, draw a nose and mouth with your black marker. For your owl, glue white feathers on the wings and draw squiggle feather lines on it’s chest with your white chalk marker.
When your glue has finished drying, your Bear’s New Friend craft is ready for play. Simple place two fingers inside the holes at the bottom of your puppets and have some fun imaginative play time.
You can also enjoy using your new puppets for story time when reading Karma Wilson’s book Bear’s New Friend. Have your puppets act out the story as your Mom or Dad reads it to you, or put on a puppet show for your family retelling the story in your own words. What other fun characters can you make from Bear’s New Friend to go along with your puppet show?
