Vacation Creations: Town Mouse and Country Mouse Finger Puppets
One of the world’s classic tales is that of two mice who visit one another’s homes only to discover that each is more content with their own. Over 100 years ago, in 1918, Beatrix Potter wrote The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse but the tale is so much older than that, for one of the best known versions is part of Aesop’s Fables from over 2,000 years ago!
Read the Aesop version at the Library of Congress here: http://www.read.gov/aesop/004.html
Read Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse here: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/15284/15284-h/15284-h.htm
After reading one or both versions, make two Mouse Finger Puppets and put on your own puppet show!
(Parents: The learning skills utilized in this project include math, visual discrimination, decision making, problem solving, fine motor skills, and language arts.)
What you need for each mouse:
• Template (see below, optional)
• Paper (any kind)
• Crayons and/or markers
• Glue stick or white glue
• Scissors
• Piece of string, ribbon, or yarn
What you do for each mouse:
1. Print the template below OR skip to Step 2.
(To print: Right click, then copy and paste into a word processor or Google Docs and print).
2. Cut and trace the larger template onto the paper of your choice OR draw it yourself OR trace something round and then extend one side into an oval so that it looks similar to the template. Note that you only need half of the circle.
3. Cut out the shape made in Step 2.
4. Fold it in half so that the two corners meet and glue it together along the curved side, leaving the straight end open near the fold for your finger. This is the mouse’s body.
5. Poke a hole where the curved side meets the straight side, thread the string or ribbon through it and tie it off – this is the mouse’s tail.
6. Trace two circles on a different paper of your choice using the template or any small round object.
7. Glue one circle on each side of the mouse’s body – these are the ears.
8. Add details with crayons and markers.
