Here is a fun and easy paper pterodactyl puppet craft for kids. I love puppet crafts because it provides kids with a fun activity along with a DIY toy they have made themselves at the end.
This is perfect for dinosaur lovers, and is great when you need a low-mess, low-prep activity to keep your kiddos busy.
Not long ago I made some toilet roll dinosaurs. There was a Triceratops and Diplodocus designed and I had planned to add to the collection with a Pterodactyl. Turns out it just worked better and was easier to make from paper, which is not quite as trendy as crafting with paper rolls right now but just as much fun don’t you think? My girls were very taken with these puppets, they named them Snowflake, Sunshine and Hearts (the green one is Hearts). Here is a quick tutorial on how you can make one at home, it won’t take long.
How to make a Paper Pterodactyl Puppet
You will need
• String
• A long craft stick or dowel rod (or any stick really)
• A hole punch and scissors
• Tape
• The free printable template below printed out on heavy paper or light card stock – mine is 160gsm which is about the maximum weight that will go through my ink jet printer. Alternatively print it out and trace the shape onto a heavier pice of card stock.
How to
To begin with score the fold line with a blunt knife (like a butter knife) and ruler. This might sound a bit weird and unnecessary but it gives you a really perfect, clean fold. You will find it’s really easy to fold after scoring the line and it helps for this project because the Pterodactyl balances on a single string so any unevenness might cause it to tilt off balance and not work properly.
Once it’s folded cut along the black line with a pair of scissors, including the slit on the head and the extra mouth piece on the bottom of the page.
Fold the wings down evenly. The mouth piece goes through the slit with half of it sticking out the top for the spike on the back of the Pterodactyl’s skull.
Use a hole punch to carefully make two holes over the dots marked, trying to keep them right on the fold line to keep your puppet balanced.
Then tie the string through the two holes and onto the stick and you have your puppet!
If you find that your puppet won’t balance properly you might need to add a small piece of tape underneath on it’s belly to keep the string in place. I made about six of these and only one actually needed the tape.
They were a hit at our place!
More fun printables you might like
• Try making a whirlygig with our free printable patterns
• Make your own party hats to decorate with our simple templates (for real parties or just pretend)
• If you have a dinosaur-lover on your hands, you’ll enjoy making these Dinosaurs from paper plates
• Make a bouncy frog on a lilypad
Or visit our printables board on Pinterest for a HUGE collection of awesome printable ideas from around the web
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Thanks for this model: very fun and easy to do.
Glad you like it, thanks Rachel!
I love love this craft and the ease of it as well.
This is so nice and so simple! Thanks alot!
You’re welcome 🙂
Very good!
What size is it suppose to be my looks a lot smaller then yours
It’s not that big. I don’t have the finished printable on hand to measure it right now but the length from the tip of it’s nose to the end of it’s body is (approx) just under 5 inches
I cant get the template to download it wont even open up.. I’d really love to print this for my son’s upcoming birthday ..can it be emailed to me please?
Oh my gosh, are you KIDDING me?! Those are so awesome! I would love having a bunch of those hanging overhead! I can totally imagine them hanging over my boy’s bed! Love them! 🙂 Lisa
I just made a few of these- so easy & quick to make. They turned out so cute!! Thank you so much!!
That’s fantastic! I’m so happy they turned out well 🙂
Thank you very much! I love this craft!
Thank you, glad you like it 🙂
Wanted to check and make sure your ok with me using this as a craft for children at my Library!
That will be fine, thanks for asking first 🙂
Hi Kate,
Am I ok to use this template for our free family craft morning? Its a great design!
That will be fine, thank you for asking
Thank you for sharing your idea. I love them so much.
Thanks so much Alicia, Im glad you like them
Muchas gracias Kate, genial el terodactilo!! mi hija fascinada!!