Super Hero Spoon Puppets

Super hero’s are lots of fun – there’s no denying that. In the past we’ve made sparkly super hero masks and super hero peg dolls. This time I decided to create some classic wooden spoon puppets dressed up as our favourite characters – Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman. They would make great handmade gifts or would be a fun rainy day project for kids to create themselves. Obviously when kids are making them you don’t need to be so particular and are better off letting them add their own creative flair. Whilst I made these puppets my six year old made her own version – totally painted all brown with a funny pink face painted on the front and she was very happy with that! 

*These puppets were designed for Spotlight’s Get Creative magazine

You will need:

• Wooden spoons – I used beechwood 40cm spoons from Spotlight
• Acrylic paints – I’ve used Jo Sonjas
• Soft felt in black, red and gold
• Googly eyes 10mm
• Fabric glue
• Lead pencil
• a thin, soft paintbrush for painting the fine details
• craft knife and cutting mat
• non-stick baking paper as a drying surface

How To:

Paint the underlying colours on first. Begin with the skin tone on the face and neck, and the basic outline of the super suits and allow these parts to dry (I have mixed a skin tone colour using yellow, red, white and a small dab of brown). Paint the front and back of the spoon at the same time, acrylic paints are quick-drying but to stop them from sticking to the drying surface place some non-stick baking paper underneath them and prop a paintbrush, pencil or similar underneath one end so that they are not completely flat and the air can still get underneath them.

Once the underlying colours have dried you can paint on some finer details including the belt and logo. Sketch the logos on with lead pencil first before painting in the appropriate colour. Leave the face until after the felt pieces have been glued on.

To create the felt pieces trace the shape of the spoon onto paper and sketch the costume pieces to fit. Pin the paper onto a piece of felt and cut the shape out that way, if it’s a particularly fiddly shape (such as the inside of batman’s eyes) use a craft knife and cutting mat to cut it out. I have created printable templates of the pieces I cut from felt but be aware that it’s likely that if you don’t use the exact same wooden spoon it won’t be an exact fit, so if you are using a different wooden spoon they will make a good reference but you’ll need to adjust them to fit to your own spoon.

Sketch a mouth on before painting over and glue the googly eyes in place– you’re done!

Now you have some fun DIY toys all ready for play – why not design a theatre for them to star in?

More DIY Toy Ideas:

• Make a whirlygig using our free printable
• Create your own Giant Dice
• Make six different instruments using paper cups
• Use coloured yarn to create some classic yarn dolls
• Practice lacing shoes with some fun DIY shoe lacing cards
• Use washi tape and our free printable template to create a magic wand
• Make your own indoor tin-can put-put golf course – you can even create your own golf club!

I’m passionate about creating fun DIY toys that are inexpensive to make and keep kids engaged, playing and learning. You can find LOTS more inspiration on this topic on my Craft & Play board on Pinterest.