Lion Paper Bag Puppet Craft with Free Printable

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Paper bag puppet crafts are nostalgic and timeless! They’re a fun, low cost activity that kids can really use their imaginations with. I used to love making these as a kid! I love activities that use simple supplies like these puppet crafts and paper plate crafts too!

This is a cheerful lion puppet that kids can make using only a brown paper lunch bag, printer paper, markers and our free template. It’s perfect for pretend play and putting on a full puppet show with storytelling, and it is a great activity for preschool and kindergarten kiddos.

Why Make a Paper Bag Puppet Craft?

Crafts like this one encourage imagination and creative play along with working on fine motor skills. It’s a great activity for a rainy or snowy day and can be fun for zoo themed units or birthday parties. I love how affordable it is and that the craft uses basic supplies. Puppets can help kids practice making up stories during pretend play too!

Supplies for Making Your Puppet

Making Your Paper Bag Lion

Paper with lion head, paws, tail and belly ready to be cut out and glued onto a paper bag to make a puppet.

Print out your lion template and color in the lion pieces. You could also use this as a template to craft the lion with construction paper or cardstock!

Colored and cut out lion pieces ready to glue onto a paper bag.

Cut out the pieces to your lion and glue onto your paper bag with a gluestick. You can also pre-cut these pieces for smaller hands. Add the tale to the back and use the paws as either hands or feet!

Paper bag with cut out and colored pieces glued onto it to make a lion puppet.

Use your puppet and practice it’s roar! This is a fun way to make easy paper bag puppets with kids of any age.

Ways to Customize Your Lion Puppet

Instead of using markers or crayons you could trace the template and make on construction paper.
Use tissue paper or paper scrapes for the mane. Similar to how we did for this paper plate lion craft!
Use pom poms, squiggly eyes or other craft supplies to customize and decorate your lion.

Lion Paper Bag Puppet Template

Download and print the lion puppet template. If you’re looking for the full set of 6 paper bag puppet templates use this link.

Black and white template of lion body parts for a puppet craft.

Looking for more paper bag puppets? Use this link for the full set of 6 puppet templates! If you’re looking for a specific animal try these: