Easily adapted for a western, fairytale or animal theme, these sock puppets are easy to make and work well for action songs and stories.
Made from socks that have lost their mate and were destined for the rag box, these simple sock puppets are great for farm animal themes, western themes and activities involving imaginative play. This is also an easy Earth Day craft to do with preschoolers, as all the materials can come from recycled clothing. With a few odds and ends from the craft box, this basic sock puppet can also become a unicorn or dragon for a fairytale theme.
Materials for Horse Puppet
- Beige, black, brown or white sock with no holes
- White felt
- Black felt
- Brown felt
- Brown yarn
- Hot glue gun
- Paint (optional)
- Coloured construction paper (for unicorn and dragon)
- If choosing to paint a white sock to create spots on the horse or to paint it a different colour, place the sock on an adult’s hand and paint the desired areas.
- Cut two circles about one inch in diameter out of white felt. Cut two circles out of black felt, smaller than the white circles and hot glue them on to the white circles to make the eyes.
- Cut two triangular pieces from the brown felt (or other colour) to make the ears of the horse.
- Place the sock onto the child’s hand with the bottom of the sock facing up and the heel of the sock covering the child’s wrist. Using a glue gun, attach the eyes and ears onto the head of the horse.
- Cut a few pieces of brown yarn to attach between the horse’s ears as a mane.
- To make a horn for a unicorn, cut a three inch triangle out of construction paper and roll it to make point. Glue the seam down and attach the horn to the unicorn with hot glue.
- For a dragon, instead of attaching a mane, cut small triangles out of construction paper and glue them between the dragon’s ears and along the back as spikes.
To form the horse’s mouth, tuck the toe of the sock into the puppet wearer’s fingers and then demonstrate how to make the mouth move. Use the puppet to do actions with these songs and stories.
Horse Songs
Horsey, Horsey
Horsey, horsey don’t you stop,
Just let your feet go clippety clop.
Your tail go swish, and your wheels go round,
Giddy up we’re homeward bound.
Let’s Go Riding
Let’s go riding, let’s go riding,
Saddle up, saddle up,
Everybody ready? Everybody ready?
Giddyap! Giddyap!
Horse Books
- Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton [Workman Publishing Company, Inc., 1993]
- Clip-Clop! By Nicola Smee [Boxer Books, 2006]
- Neigh! By Kaz Lammie [Barron’s Educational Series, 2005]
- Appaloosa Zebra: A Horse Lover’s Alphabet by Jessie Haas [Greenwillow Books, 2002]
