Celebrate Chinese New Year with a homemade dragon puppet.
Dragons are mythical creatures found in fairy tales, legends and folktales. In Asian cultures, however, dragons are perceived as good luck and are associated with strength and intelligence. For these reason, dragons have become an important symbol for Chinese New Year. Create your own unique dragon puppet craft and join in on the festivities.
Instructions
1. Draw a dragon head, two rectangular body pieces and a tail on a piece of foam board. You can also print and copy a pattern. Cut out the pieces.
2. Cut several strips of construction or patterned paper to compose the elongated dragon body. Measure the strips so that they are about two inches wide, and one or two inches longer than the width of a rectangular body piece. Use pinking sheers or scalloped scissors to create interesting edges on the strips.
3. Place one rectangular body piece on a flat surface. Glue one strip at the edge of the rectangle. Overlap another strip slightly over the first strip and glue that on the rectangle. Continue overlapping and gluing the strips until the entire body surface is covered. Repeat with the other rectangular body piece.
4. Decorate and color in the face and tail of the dragon using markers, glitter and so on. You can also add hair or flames by cutting out construction paper and gluing it on the dragon.
5. Punch holes on the left edge of the head piece, both sides of the rectangular body pieces, and right edge of tail. Arrange the dragon body parts in order and align the holes. Connect the body parts together, using brads.
6. Glue one chopstick to the back of the head and the other chopstick to the back of the tail. Use as handles to navigate your dragon.
