With the kids out of school, I’m having to put on my creative (and crafty) mama thinking cap and come up with ways to keep learning fun. While I like to cover all the subjects in order to help avoid summer brain drain, in my home the most important learning during the summer months is done through reading. My youngest absolutely adores books and has a bookcase full of them in his room but with the warm outdoors, the pool and the park constantly calling his name, my challenge is finding a way to make summer reading extra fun.
Now, just as any child does, my little guy has favorite books.
You moms all know those book that you could recite from memory that your kiddo brings to you time and time again? While we love to read a variety of books on a daily basis, the book in our home that gets read EVERY SINGLE DAY is “In The Pond”.
I guess it really makes sense since we have a small pond with a big old frog that hops around right outside our front door. Because I know how much he adores this book and how much fun he has looking for our frog in the front yard, I’ve been finding ways to bring this book to life right before his little eyes. With a little encouragement from Zenni Optical to enjoy our favorite books in a new way, whether it’s around the campfire, at the beach or pool, in the car for a family road trip or simply reenacting our favorite book scenes outdoors by our pond, I’ve found that bringing my little guy’s favorite book to life and making it even more of an adventure is as easy as creating a simple paper bag frog puppet!
What You Will Need:
Brown Paper Bags
Green Paint
White Foam Paper
Red Construction Paper
Large Googly Eyes
Glue
How to Make It:
Since “In The Pond” is all about the life cycle of a tadpole transforming to a frog (yup, we’re learning science here people!), I decided that a fun way to bring the story to life for my little was to make a green frog puppet that could read the story to him out next to our pond. To start our fun project, we painted a paper bag green.
Once the bag had dried, we cut out large white circles and attached them to the top of the bag.
As soon as they were dry, oversize googly eyes were glued into the center of them.
After adding a long piece of red paper curled in on itself to look like a tongue under the flap on the painted paper bag, our puppet was complete.
Now, at this point my little guy was pretty excited because in addition to knowing that there is a real live frog in our back yard that we can look for every time we read “In The Pond”,
he also had the perfect paper bag puppet to read the story to him and make it extra fun (stunning resemblance, right?).
After finding our afternoon spot next to the pond, we opened our favorite summer reading book, turned the pages and embarked on a familiar adventure seen in a whole new way.
As I used silly voices and let him help me with frog sounds, we traveled through the transformation process of a frog and saw our favorite character in a whole new way. For my little guy, the entire process of bringing his favorite book to life was delightful.
And in all honestly, it made me wonder why I hadn’t though of this perfect pre-school idea before. Going forward, we’ll be creating paper bag puppets for all of our favorite books in order to make summer reading extra fun. We’ll bring animals and characters to life in a simple way that is so much fun for little hands. And we’ll embark on old adventures with a new friend along for the ride.
Want to see more of how this fun day came to be? Be sure to check out the video below!
If you have little ones at home this summer, I encourage you to find easy ways to make their summer reading fun. Play dress up, create a paper bag puppet or simply find a perfect spot outdoors where their favorite book can come to life. But before you settle down with that beloved summer reading book, make sure your eyes are protected with help from Zenni Optical. With prescription and non-prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses to help the whole family see and experience the best of summer, Zenni provides on-trend, quality eyewear for the whole family at affordable prices! Be sure to check out their amazing kid’s selection here and then whether you’re in the market for prescription glasses or amazing sunglasses, discover that the world is clearer with help from Zenni Optical!
Ready to order the perfect glasses from your family from Zenni Optical? To get you started we’re giving one lucky reader a $50 gift card to Zenni Optical! To enter simple tell me in the comments below how you make summer reading fun for your kids! Good luck!
Love the puppet! It reminds me of my youngest son who LOVED frogs as a child. Heck! He still might. Ha! We have always been a bookworm family and now my oldest son has carried the passion on with his kids. I am worried about my 16-year old grandson though. I’ve noticed he holds whatever he’s reading very close to his face. I seriously think he needs a vision test and perhaps glasses.
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What a cute paper bag puppet. I think my kids would enjoy making this craft too! That real frog was such a fun touch.
Um this is absolutely adorable and your photos just make it even better! You found the perfect frog awwwww looks like that little kiddo had so much fun! Love it.
I LOVE this idea! Doing a little craft like this is the perfect way to bring stories to life for the kids.
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Paper bag puppets are so fun. My kids always loved making them when they were little. I like the idea of incorporating them into summer reading.
What a fun way to get kids involved in reading. I know my littles sometimes get bored with reading so this would really help. Thanks for the idea
What a terrific way to keep kids reading over the summer. Paper bag puppets are so much fun to make and use.
This is fantastic! I love the paper bag puppets. That is really cool and such a great fun way to add to the stories!
It is so fun to watch your child get excited about learning. What a great idea ot encourage a love of reading. I cannot wait to do these things with my new grand child.
These paper bag puppets are insanely adorable! What a great pile of books you’ve got to along with it, too… what a great way to spend a summer day!
What a fun craft for the kids. My daughters love books too, and we definitely have our favorites. I will be trying this puppet craft this weekend.
This is really cool and a great idea. My daughter loves to read Good Night Moon, that would be a fun story to make a paper bag puppet for. Thanks for the idea.
Crystal says
Great pictures. I’ve never heard of that optical company. I will check them out when I need new glasses.
This is such a cute post. I love the paper bag puppet, so cute. We’ve been incorporating reading as well this Summer.
I always loved making paper bag puppets when I was a kid. My girls have made them as well. They’re so much fun!
I used to love making paper bag puppets with my oldest daughter. So fun!
What a great way to make reading these books more fun. I love that cute frog!
What a cute and fun idea. So creative. I remember my sister makes paper bag puppets.
What a fun way to inspire kids to want to read. I remember making paper bag puppets as a kid, they were fun to make back then for sure!
My son would love this activity! It is so much fun to make crafts with the kids when they are home from school.
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These are so cute! What a fun idea to make reading more exciting!
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Puppets at fun to make. I love the frog puppet you made.
What a super cute idea to do for kids. I know this would entice any child to want to read for sure. Love paper bag puppets!
That is a great way to bring your child’s favorite book to life! My kids love puppets.
I love this - such a cute crafts. My little guy is really into bugs right now so I bet he would love finding a frog or toad.
I love doing crafts with my kids. I will have to check out that optical company.
very cool idea. i think its not just for summer but also during free time we can spend this time with the kids.
This is such a cool idea. My daughter loved puppets and this is the perfect craft for her to do before she returns to school. She loves animals.
How fun and adorable. My daughter loves to read and this would be a great way to add a little crafting and fun to the imagination and adventure. I don’t know why I never thought of this before but I am definitely going to use this idea now. Thank you so much for sharing!
Omg! How cute is this puppet?!?! My daughter would get a kick out of making one of these!
Super cute paper bag puppet! It came out adorable and I love any way to make reading even more fun. Thanks for the idea 🙂
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You are a very creative mother 🙂 I always enjoy your DIY projects, always fun!
My nieces love stuff like this. I am going to make these puppets with them next weekend while I babysit.
Vanya Mahal Ranthambore says
I adore this – such a charming artworks. My little person is truly into bugs at this moment so I wager he would love finding a frog or toad…very cool thought. i think its for summer as well as amid spare time we can spend…..