Hoglets craft: Make a toilet roll Mermaid puppet

 This week in Hoglets online we did the story of The Singing Mermaid. And so what better way to follow it than to make your very own Mermaid puppet! All with the humble but incredibly versatile... toilet roll (our very favourite craft item!). You will need: 

• A Toilet Roll
• 2 sheets of different Coloured Paper  (if you don't have coloured paper you can use wrapping paper or plain white paper and colour it yourself)
• A Glue Stick
• Paint (This is for your Mermaid's Body so the colour of your choice)
• Scissors
• Felt-tip Pens
• Sellotape
• A Lollipop Stick
• Foam Stickers ( These are optional, you can just as easily use more of your coloured paper)

How to make your Mermaid Puppet

1.Take your toilet roll and paint it then set it to one side to dry

2. Cut a strip of coloured paper long enough to wrap once around your toilet roll and wide enough to cover 1/3 of it. Cover this strip with glue and stick it around the bottom third of your toilet roll. 3. Using the same coloured paper, draw a mermaid tail shape with a tab at the bottom, double your paper over and cut out the tail. This will give you two tails, cover the backs in glue and stick them together apart from the tab. Cover your tabs in glue and stick your tail to the side of the Mermaids body. 4. Cut a strip of the other coloured paper long enough to wrap once around your toilet roll and wide enough to cover 1/2 of it. This will be your Mermaid's hair, so cut away a section in the middle of the strip to make it look like a pair of curtains.  Put a ring of glue around the top of your toilet roll and attach the hair strip, ensure it is only secured at the top. Then with your scissors carefully cut the hair into thin strips. This is probably a job for your big person, take one of the blades of your scissors and curl your strands of hair. 5. Use your felt pens to give your Mermaid a face, eyes, nose and a lovely big smile. 6. The next step is your opportunity to get creative. What is your mermaid wearing as a top? is it the traditional Sea-Shell Bikini, is she covered in seaweed or wearing a wetsuit - the choice is yours. You can either use foam stickers as I have, cut out and stick on bits of your coloured paper or go crazy with your felt-tips. 7. Your final step is to give your mermaid a controller, take your lollipop stick or twig and stick it the bottom of your mermaid inside the toilet roll. And there you go your puppet is complete, I can't wait to see what amazing merfolk you create and  hear the stories you tell with them Mama Hoglet. X