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Here’s a fun Paper Bag Doctor Puppet Craft that you can use to put up a puppet show that features brave health workers – perfect for Doctor’s Day!

A visit to the doctor or to the hospital is something that is always riddled with anxiety, even if it’s just for something small. However, once the doctor does a quick checkup, listens to you patiently and tells you what to do, the air suddenly clears, and you feel like you are now under the wings of someone who knows what to do. That’s the power of the healing touch we always hear about, and the reason we celebrate Doctor’s Day!

International Doctors Day is on the 30th of March, while in India, Doctors Day is on the 1st of July, the birth anniversary of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy.

Who was Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy?

Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy was a doctor from West Bengal, who started his journey in medicine at Calcutta Medical College. He later applied to St Bartholomew’s Hospital in Britain but was rejected because he was Asian. However, Dr. Roy was persistent; he sent over 30 applications before he was finally accepted!

Dr. Roy believed that for a nation to achieve anything, her people had to be strong and healthy. He spent his entire life serving the people of his country, setting up hospitals and medical colleges, and even arranging for a place to study for students during war!

Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy later became the Chief Minister of Bengal and died on his 80th birthday, the 1st of July 1962. This day has since been celebrated as National Doctors Day in India and is an opportunity to recognize the service of our brave physicians. We’ve got something that works perfectly for this occasion – a cute Paper Bag Doctor Puppet Craft! 

Paper Bag Doctor Puppet Craft

Supplies required:

• Paper bag
• Craft paper in different colors
• Markers
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Glue

How to make the Paper Bag Doctor Puppet Craft:

1. Download and print the paper bag doctor puppet craft template. The template includes the coat, sleeves, collar,  pants, stethoscope, shirt, shoes, hair, face, hands and eyes.

2. Trace the parts of the template on colored craft paper and cut them out. While the doctor’s coat needs to stay white, the fun part about this project is that you can play around with colors for the other parts – for instance, the stethoscope can be either black, brown or blue. The doctor itself can be male or female, and with any skin, hair or eye color. 

3. Let’s start by inserting the face into the slits of the hairpiece. 

4. Stick the eyes on the face and use a marker to draw the remaining features like nose and a cute smile!

5. Time to assemble the other parts. Stick the shoes to the bottom of the pants. Attach the hands to the ends of the sleeves with glue. Stick the small shirt triangle in the middle of the coat collar. Assemble the stethoscope by sticking the small circle inside the big one of the diaphragm. 

6. Now that we have all the individual portions assembled, let’s put the paper bag doctor puppet craft together! Stick the pants to the bottom of the white coat rectangle. Stick the collar on the top middle portion, aligning it slightly lower than the top edge. 

7. Stick the two parts of the stethoscope on the left and right sides of the coat. Draw an outline for the collar as well as some buttons. Now gather all the parts of the paper bag doctor puppet craft, including the main part – the paper bag!

8. Stick the doctor’s head on the folded flap of the paper bag. 

9. Stick the body of the paper bag doctor puppet craft on the bottom portion of the paper bag. Stick the sleeves to the left and right of the paper bag, applying glue to the back of the bag. 

10. That’s it, your paper bag doctor puppet craft is ready! Now go ahead and make more doctors from different ethnicities – we need everyone to fight disease!

You can use this paper bag doctor puppet to put up a puppet show, along with our other paper bag puppets! It’s also a fun way for young children to do some role-play and learn about different careers in the health industry. Who knows, you may just discover a budding physical in your own home!