Monster Finger Puppets

My first thought when Kate informed her creative team of the re-release of her Lil’ Monsters doodles, was that these monsters would make a super cute Monster Jam Finger Party at my house. Halloween is coming up, and I’d been thinking about different non-food treats that I could have available for other allergy kids like my daughter, and I thought these might be a fun option. It is a super quick craft to whip up for young children, and virtually no mess: win / win situation, if you ask me. Here’s how I did it:

First, I created a new blank document, US Letter size, in my program. I use Photoshop Elements 12, but I’m certain this would work without any photo editing software. On my blank canvas, I arranged several of the monster doodles, with room for circles to be “feet”. The size of the circles is up to you. I wasn’t paying attention to size of the circles, just sort of guessing how big my children’s fingers are.

To add the circles, I made a circle shape with the shape tool, and then simplified the shape layer. I then duplicated the circle several times and placed where I wanted the finger holes to go. Anyone following along without photo editing software, you really can just imagine where “feet circles” should go… we’re just going to cut them out anyway.

After my feet-circles were placed, I just printed the page, and then cut out the feet circles! Hindsight being what it is, next time, I’ll know to look at the size of the circle punch I own, so that later I can just punch circle holes at the correct size, rather than cutting. Also, print on card stock – regular paper can tear more easily in the putting on/off of fingers.

In case finger puppets aren’t something your children would enjoy, you could try stick puppets – same process, without feet-circles! I used washi tape to adhere the doodles to popsicle sticks.

And even more fun – the “color-your-own” option. For coloring, I recommend picking up the stamp packs from Kate’s store here on her website. Stamps are my favorite for making anything coloring related – including coloring pages. Maybe it’s a “pre-activity” for your family… have the kids color the coloring page, while you’re busy printing and assembling puppets!