If you like free Christmas printables for kids, you need to take a look at these free printable nativity hand puppets! They make the perfect Christ-centered Christmas craft project.
These Nativity hand puppets are an amusing and effortless way to get into the Christmas spirit.
They’re perfect for kids of all ages, and they’re a great way to learn more about the story of Jesus’ birth.
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What Is A Nativity Hand Puppet?
If you’ve seen my Halloween-themed monster hand puppets, then you are already familiar with the concept of a hand puppet.
If you haven’t, then let me explain.
In short, a hand puppet is a puppet that folds over your hand rather than your whole arm. You still use your fingers to move and manipulate the mouths and body parts, however, it’s nice and small and you don’t need to worry about big, cumbersome paper bags or socks or anything like that.
These hand puppets follow a Nativity theme so you can go through the Christmas story (Nativity story) with your kids.
Nativity hand puppets are simply hand puppets that represent the different characters in the Nativity story.
This particular set includes a Mary, a Joseph, a baby Jesus in a manger, and an angel. (Sorry, no three kings or shepherds in this set – I tried but couldn’t get the faces and coloring to match up.)
How Do You Make A Hand Puppet?
Making these hand puppets is fairly simple. Older children might even be able to do it alone. You will need to help your younger children.
How Do You Make A Hand Puppet? Nativity Hand Puppet Instructions
Making these hand puppets is fairly simple. Older children might even be able to do it alone. You will need to help your younger children.
Tools
- Printable Nativity Hand Puppet Template (link below)
- Printer
- Printer Paper
- Scissors
- Tape or Glue
- Willing Hands
Instructions
- First, you'll print out your hand puppet template (free at the bottom of this article). Make sure to print out all the pages (with the exception of the cover page perhaps.) For extra stability, feel free to print these out on card stock or construction paper. Or if you don't have any specialty paper on hand, white printer paper will work just fine.
- Carefully cut out the printed character (or characters) of your choice. Just follow along with the basic outline shape and you should be good to go.
- You will see three horizontal dotted lines going through your character. Don't cut these! Go ahead and fold your character in half (so the colors come together) along the middle dotted line.
- Now fold along each of the other dotted lines. You'll be left with a weird-looking character who has no mouth. It's kind of funny looking but bare with me.
- At this point, your puppet craft should open and close as you open and close your hand. It won't be perfect but it will give you a basic idea of what the finished hand puppets will look like.
- Now it's time to make your puppet more secure. In your PDF bundle, you got a page with a bunch of black lines. Those are your attaching strips. Go ahead and cut one out for each of your characters.
- Measure it to your hand so it makes a simple loop that secures your hand to the puppet. Tape or glue your strip into place and voila! You have a finished Nativity hand puppet!
- As for the Baby Jesus - just cut yours out and glue or tape a popsicle stick to the back of it. Baby Jesus wouldn't make a good hand puppet so He's just a stick puppet template. (That seemed more appropriate.)
- Feel free to encourage your kids to make their own stick puppets for the animals (donkey, camel, sheep, etc) or the missing shepherds using a picture they drew themselves! That is a great way to make this Christmas craft even more fun!
- Use the hand puppet craft to teach kids the Nativity Story (Christmas Story) on Christmas Eve or throughout the Christmas season.
Be sure to find some soothing Christmas music to play in the background! (such as Silent Night or something like that.) Or alternatively, just let your kids have some fun acting out their own version of the Nativity story as a fun, Christ-centered lesson or Christmas activity!
Notes
If you don't want to have to fold the hand puppets and stick the straps to the back, feel free to keep them tall and attach them to popsicle sticks instead! They'll still be tons of fun to play with.
Who Can Use These Nativity Puppets?
These Nativity hand puppets are perfect for kids of all ages! But I think they’ll be most enjoyed by:
- Older toddlers and preschoolers who are just learning about the Nativity story and want to act it out
- Elementary-aged kids who want to put on a cute Nativity play or skit for their family or friends
- Church groups (primary ages) who want to have a Nativity craft project
- Sunday School classes wanting to do a Christ-centered Christmas activity
- Home school families looking for a fun, educational Christmas project
- Kids of any age who just want to have some fun while learning about the Christmas story and the special nativity scene!
I hope you enjoy these cute Nativity hand puppets as much as we do! Be sure to grab your wonderful free resources at the bottom of this article. And remember to keep the true meaning of Christmas in mind this holiday season.
What You Need To Make These Hand Puppets
To make these hand puppets, you’ll need:
- A printer
- Paper (card stock, construction paper, or regular printer paper)
- Scissors
- Tape or Glue
- A willing hand
- A supervising adult
More Christmas Craft Projects For Kids
If you liked the Nativity hand puppets, be sure to check out these other fun Christmas printables. There are some great ideas here!
- The Elves and the Shoemaker Christmas Craft
- 10 Fun Grinch Crafts
- 21+ Christmas Crafts for Kids
- 31+ Christmas STEM Activities
More Christ-Centered Christmas Activities For Kids
These Christ-centered Christmas activities will help you keep the true meaning of Christmas at the front or your mind!
- Christian Elf on a Shelf Alternatives
- Christ-Centered Christmas Books for Kids
- Nativity Christmas Art for Kids
- Gingerbread Nativity Instructions | STEM Activity
Download Your Free Nativity Hand Puppet Template PDF
Are you ready to download your free printable Nativity hand puppets? Great!
Click here to access your free Nativity hand puppets!
I hope you enjoy your free printables! Merry Christmas!!
Remember to share this activity with your friends so they can enjoy it too!
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