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This Paper Bag Astronaut Puppet is just what you need to celebrate National Astronaut Day on 5th May!! Have fun with your very own puppet show!

We often hear about inspirational quotes that tell us to ‘follow our dreams’ and ‘reach for the stars’. Well, there are people who have literally done just that – followed their dreams straight into the stars. We’re talking about the amazing people called astronauts!

So why are we talking about astronauts today? Well, it’s because National Astronaut Day is coming up soon, on 5th May. It was on this day in 1961 that astronaut Alan Bartlett Shepard became the first American in space. He was aboard the Freedom 7 Space capsule and since 2017, it has been decided to observe this special occasion as National Astronaut Day.

How to celebrate National Astronaut Day?

1. Watch videos on historical space launches
2. Read about famous astronauts from your country
3. Throw a space-theme party for your friends
4. Test your space knowledge with a fun quiz
5. Put up a puppet show featuring astronauts and aliens

As to that last point, we’re here to help – here is a super cute and easy paper bag astronaut puppet craft that kids can make! Bring in our paper bag alien puppets too and you have the cast ready for your show!

Fun and Easy Paper Bag Astronaut Puppet

Supplies required:

• Craft paper in different colors
• Brown paper bag
• Markers
• Scissors
• Glue

How to make the Paper Bag Astronaut Puppet:

1. Download and print the paper bag astronaut puppet template. The template contains parts of the astronaut – helmet, face, eyes, hair, boots as well as the various parts of his space suit.

2. Trace the parts of the template on craft papers of the appropriate colors and cut them out. Your paper bag astronaut puppet can be of any ethnicity, which means you can choose any skin, hair and eye color. The space suit is best left white, so the details can stand out.

3. Stick the hair on the upper part of the face. 

4. Stick the astronaut’s eyes approximately in the middle of the face. Take your black marker and add remaining facial details like a nose and mouth. 

5. On a small white rectangle, draw some buttons and lights – don’t worry, they don’t have to be exactly like a real space suit! Color in with markers of your choice. Make the antenna by sticking the little circle on a white strip.

6. Time to place our astronaut in his space suit! Stick the face inside the helmet. 

7. Using your black marker, draw an outline inside the helmet. Stick the antenna to one end of the helmet. 

8. We’re going to assemble the suit of the paper bag astronaut puppet next. Let’s start with a white square as the base.

9. Stick the boots to the bottom of the square. Now attach two stripes to the square – one at the top edge and one above the boots. 

10. Remember the buttons and lights bit we worked on in step 5? Stick that in between the two stripes, centering it vertically. 

11. Time to put the parts of our paper bag astronaut puppet together! Apply glue on the folded flap of the brown paper bag and stick the astronaut head on it. 

12. Now stick the astronaut’s body on the remaining portion of the paper bag, below the folded flap. 

13. That’s it – your paper bag astronaut puppet is ready! Now go and make more astronauts from different countries!

Another fun detail kids can add to this paper bag astronaut puppet is a flag. Most astronauts have their country’s flag displayed on their space suits, and your astronaut can have it too! It also gives kids an opportunity to learn about the space programs of various countries and also familiarize themselves with the flags. A simple craft can open the door to so many worlds!

If you enjoyed this craft, you may also like these:

• Easy Paper Astronaut Craft
• Printable Space Theme Bingo Cards
• 20 Outer Space Crafts for Kids
• 20 Outer Space Party Ideas for Kids
• Outer Space Art Ideas for Kids