Kids don't need to pull any strings to find puppets eager to put on a show. In fact, they can make the chatty creatures themselves. All a young puppeteer needs are a few paper bags, some scraps of colored paper, and a lazy afternoon. 

Achieving the end result -- the troupe of adorable animals here -- is simple; the real challenge lies in perfecting just the right lion, dog, and pig voices.

Lion Puppet How-To
1. Cut the mane from construction paper. 

2. Slip bag's bottom into mane's opening to create face. Cut ears and arms from another bag; inner ears, eyes, nose, teeth, and claws from construction paper. 

3. Attach arms to front half of side pleats, ears and teeth under face

Tip: Glue tiny details, such as claws, onto larger pieces before you assemble your new puppet.

Dog Puppet How-To
1. Fold under lower corners of bag's flattened bottom and glue. 

2. Cut blaze and belly from white construction paper, ears and tail from brown, eyes and nose from black, and tongue from pink. 

3. Glue everything in place, securing tongue under face and tail to the back of bag.

Pig Puppet How-To
1. Glue pink construction paper to bottom of a pink bag to hide creases. 

2. Cut ears and snout from decorative paper in a rosy shade; glue in place. Add tiny construction-paper eyes and nostrils. 

3. Cut arms from pink construction paper; glue to front half of the bag's side pleats.