Finger Cast Puppets

Materials

• Petroleum jelly, optional
• Rigid or casting wrap, cut into 4" (10cm) strips
• Bowl of water
• Paint
• Googly eyes
• Glue
• Yarn or doll hair, optional
• Clay, optional

What To Do

1. Choose your first "patient" and apply a small amount of petroleum jelly to the child's finger, if desired. Dip the strips of wrap into the bowl of water and wrap them loosely aroundthe child's finger, forming a cast.
2. Carefully remove the cast before it hardens.
3. When their casts harden and dry, invite the children to paint faces on them. Help the children attach eyes and hair, if desired.
4. Attach some clay to the base of the casts if you want the puppets to stand on their own.

More To Do

Circle time: Invite the children to discuss safety and how to avoid accidents.

Dramatic play: Use the puppets to act out a scene in a doctor's office or hospital.

Related books

Curious George by H.A. Rey
I Can Tell by Carolyn Otto
Maggie and the Emergency Room by Martine Davison
Office Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann

--Carol Nelson, Rockford, IL