Halloween Skeleton Puppet Crafts

About this resource

What's inside this resource

Product Description

Halloween Skeleton Puppet Crafts are easy to make split pin moving skeleton puppet. It’s easy to make in only a few steps and is a great activity for Halloween. They boost creative skills, self-expression, hand-eye coordination, practice focus and patience. It’s also good as a quiet activity for children who finish their work early.

Directions for use:

To prepare the template for use, print the sheets on to sturdy card paper that is compatible with your printer. Make many copies for large groups of children and/or lesson. For small children cut the templates and punch tiny holes on the circle before passing out the skeleton set.

Uses for product

Halloween Theme

Arts and Crafts

Art lessons

Activity & Games

Art centers

Printable

Arts and craft template

Decoration

Fun puppet or reading buddy

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

Assemble a jointed paper figure by matching labelled connection points and pushing a split pin through each pair
Use scissors to cut printed shapes away from a template sheet along their outlines
Choose and colour one template as a personal design decision so each finished puppet differs from the next

Teaching tips

Print onto sturdy card that the printer can take — the sheets are sized A4 and the directions ask for card rather than copy paper so the joints hold once the pins are in.
For younger children, cut the templates and punch the joint circles before the sets are handed out; that leaves colouring and pinning as the children's work.
Count out four split pins per skeleton before the lesson starts, since each puppet needs exactly four to make all the labelled joints.
The directions suggest the craft as a quiet task for children who finish other work early, and the finished puppets double as classroom decoration or a reading buddy.

Skills covered

Scissor control — children cut the skeleton pieces away from the template sheet along the printed shapes, or receive them pre-cut when the group is too young to cut safely.
Split-pin assembly — children line up matched joint marks, 1A to 1B through 4A to 4B, and push a pin through each pair so the limb pivots.
Colouring and self-expression — each child picks a template and colours the skeleton before assembly, so no two finished puppets look alike.
Craft preparation — teachers print onto sturdy card, copy for the whole group, and pre-cut and pre-punch the joint circles for younger children.

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

What holds the puppet's arms and legs on?

Four split pins per skeleton. Every template marks the joints in matched pairs — 1A to 1B, 2A to 2B, 3A to 3B and 4A to 4B — so a pin through each pair sets the limbs at the shoulders and hips and lets them swing.

What preparation do the templates need before a young class can use them?

Print them onto sturdy card stock the printer can handle and copy enough for the group. For small children the directions ask that the templates be cut out and the tiny holes punched on the marked circles before the sets are handed out, leaving the children to colour and pin.

What can the finished puppets be used for once the craft is over?

The directions page lists classroom decoration, art-centre work and use as a fun puppet or reading buddy, and suggests the craft itself as a quiet task for children who finish their other work early.