Worm puppets

You will need:

• Brown tissue paper
• Bendable plastic flexi-straw
• Green paper cup, medium size (find in the party aisle)
• Green paper
• Tiny wiggly eyes
• Fine-tipped Kokkie
• Scissors
• White glue
• Water in plastic container
• Soft paintbrush for spreading glue
• Tacky white glue or double-sided tape
• Old pan or clean meat tray
• Rubber bands
• Moist rag
• Newspapers

What you need to do:

Firstly:

1. Spread newspapers on table.
2. Using a pencil, punch a hole in the bottom of the cup large enough for a flexi- straw to poke through snugly.
3. Cut a strip of brown tissue paper almost the length of the straw and 10 cm wide.
4. Pour two parts glue into plastic container with one part water and stir. Place moist rag nearby to clean those sticky fingers.

Secondly:

1. Place the brown tissue paper strip on the newspaper and spread the watered down glue over it with a brush.
2. Lay the straw along one long edge of the tissue, leaving a portion of the straight end of the straw poking out.
3. Roll the straw up in the wet tissue. While the glue is still wet, carefully push the wet tissue up the straw toward the bend end, crumpling and wrinkling it to form the segments of the worm until the tissue covers about one half of the straw (bent end).
4. Pinch or work some of the tissue into the tip of the straw to cover the hole and create a head for the worm.
5. Carefully place on a tray to dry.

Then:

Trace a little hand on a piece of green construction paper three or four times using fine-tipped kokkie, making sure tracings do not overlap. Cut out hand tracings.

Fourthly:

1. Spread tacky glue on back of each hand tracing (not the fingers) and attach to the cup with the fingers protruding above the lip of the cup to create grass.
2. Continue to glue the hand cutouts to the cup, overlapping as necessary, until the cup is covered all the way around.
3. Use the rubber band to hold the cutouts in place until dry.
4. Use a small dot of tacky glue to attach each wiggly eye to the worm head and allow to dry.

Lastly:

Once all parts are dry, push the bottom of the straw down through the hole in the cup and put on a wormy puppet show!