Preschool Art Class | DIY Finger Puppets From Chenille Stems / Pipe Cleaners

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(Edited)

Fun Art Class

Quite a few months ago, I started collecting a huge amount of art supplies to get through the expected lockdown. There were a few things that have been untouched (until this week) because I simply didn't know how to find inspiration to create something with them.

The reason I couldn't find inspiration was actually quite simple, I had no idea how these funny colored sticks were called and hunting for inspiration was hard, unless I accidentally found them online.
That didn't happen, so I put on my best search skill hat and decided to find out the name of these funny things.

Google showed me they are called "Chenille Stems", I was wondering what that even means, so I typed in Chenille to find some answers to that question:

Aha! That makes sense now, if I had known this before wondering the name of these sticks, I would have found it sooner, I guess. So you see, it's never too late to learn something new!

Edit: Some of the members in the community have mentioned the term Pipe Cleaners for these, I have added this in the post's title. Maybe that's just a term I never heard before but it sounds much better than Chenille stems :) Thanks everyone! <3

Preparation

This fun art class doesn't need much preparation besides making sure you have a few items.

Don't forget the heat up the glue gun, and make sure that your child can't burn him or herself. I've burned myself so many times in my life that I make sure my daughter can't even touch the glue gun when it's heated. Safety first!

Step by step - Mommy's examples

I wanted my daughter to see how the chenille stems work first, and decided to create 3 little hand puppets myself (with her assistance of course!) and once done, give her the reigns and only assist by lending my finger and doing the glue part for her. I don't want her to get burned, but this was the only glue in the house that will stick well enough to create the puppets. Let's have a look at the step by step process of these fun hand puppets from chenille stems:

Here's the group picture:

Would you look at these cute hand puppets! Pinkie is even hugging Mr Yellow! How lovely, don't you think?

Are you ready to see the ones my daughter created with my assistance?

Step by step - Daughter's creations

Here they are in more detail:

Which one is your favorite? We both agree that the pink puppet my daughter designed was by far the coolest!

I hope you had fun with this art class and feel free to leave a comment below. Especially if you tried to create your own hand puppets from chenille stems!

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18 comments
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Hello @thisismylife What lovely finger puppets. I've purchased that fuzzy wire for my granddaughter to use on school projects. Your craft projects seem so easy. I love all the colors you used.

Thanks for sharing.

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Thank you! I tried to make it look easy, sometimes I forget a step haha, but I think this one was clear enough as is. Enjoy crafting with your granddaughter :) feel free to share the result when you've used these supplies :) always nice to see someone's creations .. have a nice weekend..

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Loved this read and the pictures! Your daughter´s pink(y) puppet beats them all! How can you not fall in love with those hypnotizing eyes! :>)

I had never heard of the term Chenille Stems before but I know these things from the past and always kind of liked them. I wouldn´t know the Dutch word for this material either.

I had also never before heard of a glue gun. From now on it´s my favorite weapon haha.

Thanks for sharing this ( will keep this in mind for my niece and nephew. We tend to create things together whenever they come ever ) and have an amazing weekend!

xx

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Thanks @vincentnijman <3

Your daughter´s pink(y) puppet beats them all! How can you not fall in love with those hypnotizing eyes! :>)

So true, that one was the best!

I never heard of them either but have to admit that I remember having them when I was young without knowing how these are called. So no bell started ringing when hunting for answers either..

You never heard of a glue gun?? Oh my .. that thing is amazing, the worst thing about a glue gun is the danger of burning yourself & if you make a mistake adding 2 parts together, you will not be able to fix your mistake.. so the best thing is also the worst thing. I hate all other glue sorts, as none of them are as handy as the glue gun. You can use it for anything haha..

Please remember and share some of the results when you do!! And have an amazing weekend yourself!

<3

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Too cute! Those things are awesome lol. It’s definitely hard when you don’t know what something is called! I run into that often lol.

I will have to see if we can make these real quick this morning we have all the supplies and will be going on a drive, our son loves this type of stuff!

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Thank you! And yes, that was hard, and it wasn't on my priority list either otherwise, I would have searched for the answers already. But I like to have a nice collection of art supplies for when we feel creative :)

Hopefully you made something cool for your son, please feel free to show a picture :) haha

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So cute!

We always called these pipe cleaners, although I don't know if that fits for the more elaborate ones they have now. My girls had some for years and I never could think what to do with them. 🤣

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Thank you :)
She's in love with them now haha, these were quite simple but I've gotten quite a bit of inspiration to create other things with them as well.

I had the same problem, I brought them home from a store with craft supplies, and while most of these items were things that I use more often, these were in the category "to be determined" I have to admit that I was looking at them fro quite some time over the past months, without success.

B

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Aw! They're so cute! I might as well create for my toddler son.

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Ahhh those are adorable XD

Hope your finger is okay D: if it's any consolation the extra big owlish googloy eyes look amazing.

Had no idea those things were called chenille stems or even what chenille was, isn't homeschooling great ;D they've always just been "pipe cleaners" here.

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Thanks! Yeah my fingers are ok haha..

Maybe the term for them in crafty world is pipe cleaners and is this the official name, I have no idea, it's the second time I read pipe cleaners, so it must be a known term (which didn't ring any bell for me either, so either way I would have had to google it lol)

But the explanation makes sense, if you google chenille only without the stems behind it, look at the images you find. Fabric that look just as fluffy :)

From now on, I will most likely stick to pipe cleaners though, as that sounds like a more familiar term.. Will also add that in the post, for searching purposes!

Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy your Sunday!

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