Preschool and Elementary Activity: Christmas Manger Puppets

Kids will love to make these Christmas Manger Puppets as they re-create the barn animals that kept Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus company on the night Jesus was born.

You’ll Need:

• Empty pudding boxes (two per child),
• yarn,
• cotton balls,
• pompoms,
• tempera paint,
• masking tape,
• large google eyes, and
• construction paper.

Preschool and Elementary Activity: Christmas Manger Puppets

Before class, cut or tear off the “open here” flaps from the end of each pudding box. For younger children, stack two pudding boxes with the open ends on top of each other. Use masking tape to create a “hinge” between the boxes by placing strips of masking tape along the area where the boxes meet. (Older kids can do this for themselves.) Apply tape to both sides of the hinge. The child’s hand will slip inside the pudding boxes to create a puppet’s head and mouth.

Kids can make their puppets into any barn animal they choose, such as a lamb, a donkey, or a pig. Use items such as paint, cotton balls, google eyes, and yarn.

Read aloud Luke 2:13-18, and ask kids to imagine what it may’ve been like that first night for Jesus and his family.

Looking for more? Check out these preschool and elementary ideas!