This flying seagull puppet is plastic free and can be fully composted (or the string removed and re-used and the paper recycled) when finished with.
Gather together...
1 A4 sheet of paper (ideally scrap paper, but it needs to be blank on both sides - a good tip is to save and use the paper on the back of large envelopes that come through the post e.g. what the Beano magazine comes in).
A hole punch.
30cm of white cotton string (or use brown jute twine, but it will be more noticeable so you'll have to tie your knots more neatly).
Yellow card / paper / colour in some card yellow - for the beak.
White paper (blank on both sides) to draw a handprint on - for the tail.
Pencil (for drawing around around a hand).
Scissors (for cutting out the handprint).
Glue (to stick the beak on with) - - I like the Coccoina glue tin as it is a plastic-free alternative to Pritt Stick (but it contains traces of almond nuts and the teeny-tiny brush has pig-bristle hairs, so it isn't suitable for everyone).
Blue pen and black pen (for the eyes).
Get making...
1. Fold an A4 sheet of plain white paper in half, so the short sides touch, press for a crisp fold line. This fold essentially makes the 'backbone' of the bird.
2. Bend one of the loose corners towards the middle of the line you just folded, and do the same on the other side (see picture below). These are forming the wings. Make sure the pointed ends poke up above the original fold line. DO NOT PRESS TO MAKE ANY NEW FOLD LINES, as you want the shape of the wings to be gently rounded, not flat and straight. Make one hole punch hole, all in one go, through the pointed ends and through the original folded paper - making sure the hole isn't too close to the edge. N.B. in the photo below, the paper is blu-tacked in place so you can see what it looks like - your wings will spring out of shape if you let go of them.
3. Use a 30cm piece of white cotton string (the maximum 30cm length is to avoid any strangulation risk for small children) to push through the 4 layers of hole punched paper and tie them in place - see below.
4. Draw around a close-together-fingers hand, on white paper, for a tail and cut out. Place the handprint half-in and half poking-out of the back end of the bird. Hole punch through the folded paper and through the handprint - see below. Tie the free end of the string through the hole punched layers to secure them and this also makes the 'handle' to hold the flying bird with.
5. Cut out a triangular yellow beak shape (make it far longer than necessary so you can attach it securely) and use glue to secure it inside the fold at the 'head' end. Add an eye on each side with the pens and voila!
UPDATE: Sadly this craft has been called into action to make a dove of peace to hang in our front window. Follow the steps above, but cut out the beak differently - as a folded triangle, jointed at the flat base end (so a piece of green paper or card can be glued in between the two layers of beak at the pointy end). Sigh.
