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Fish Paper Bag Puppet Craft [Free Template]

Now that summer is here, kids are looking for fun things to do. This fish paper bag puppet craft is a great summer activity!

Not only will kids have fun with this craft, but it will also help them develop their creativity and fine motor skills while they play with the puppets they make.

This kids’ craft has a free printable template for kids as well. The final product is a cute fish paper bag puppet toy that kids can use to pretend play or display as an art piece in their room.

This easy-to-follow tutorial includes detailed step-by-step instructions and photos for each stage of completion so even children can make this project!

This craft is great as an ocean-themed unit or just something fun in general. Give this craft a try and let us know what you think about it in the comments below!

Also, be sure to check out all of our paper bag puppets for even more ideas.

Fish Puppet Craft

fish paper bag puppet craft image collage with the words paper bag fish craft

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Supplies

  • Brown paper bag
  • Colored cardstock or construction paper
  • Scissors
  • Glue
  • Fish template (enter your email in the form at the end of this post to have the link sent to you)

Directions

Download the fish template, print, and cut out the pieces you need.

hand holding fish paper bag puppet craft template

Optional: To have a colorful background, glue blue paper onto the flap and main portion of the brown paper bag.

hand gluing blue paper to brown paper bag

Create the fish’s head by gluing the face to the end of the head.

hand gluing face to paper bag fish craft

Place the eye above the mouth and glue it in place.

hand gluing eye to paper bag fish craft

Take the smaller top and bottom fin and secure them with glue on the fish’s head.

hand gluing dorsal fin to paper bag fish craft

Next, create the body by gluing the tail fin to the back of the fish’s body.

hand gluing tail fin to paper bag fish craft

Glue the main top and bottom fin to the body piece, then glue the side fin in the middle of the body.

hand gluing dorsal fin to paper bag fish craft
hand gluing fin to paper bag fish craft

Turn the paper bag sideways, with the flap portion on the left, and glue the body on the main piece, just below the flap.

hand gluing body to paper bag fish craft

Finish by aligning the head to the body and glue it to the flap portion of the paper bag.

hand gluing head to paper bag fish craft

Your kids can go wild creating an entire school of fish!

hand holding fish paper bag puppet craft

Ocean Unit For Kids

Create an entire ocean-themed unit around this fish puppet with our ideas below!

We love borrowing books from the library or buying some to add to our home collection. Reading is a great way to introduce a new unit and as you know, has tremendous benefits! Below are some of the top-rated ocean books for kids!

The Snail and the Whale– Julia Donaldson, author of the famous book The Gruffalo, brings kids another fun book about an unlikely set of friends. Snail and Whale have lots of fun together in this colorful book!

Shark Lady– This children’s book is based upon the true story of Eugenie Clark, aka, The Shark Lady. Learn about her love of sharks, her discoveries, and the inspiring message of going after what you want in life.

The Rainbow Fish -This is a classic children’s book with a wonderful message for children. In it, a fish learns to share his favorite possession, his glittery scales, with his friends!

2 fish paper bag puppet crafts

Crafting can be a fun and rewarding pastime. It promotes creativity, enhances problem-solving skills, builds self-esteem, and boosts the confidence of kids in general. Add in some more craft time during your unit studies!

Below are some of our favorite ocean animal crafts:

No need to spend hours looking through Pinterest, we’re sharing these ocean printable preschool worksheets. These educational activities will have your kids learning while they have fun!

hand holding fish paper bag puppet craft

These ocean pattern block mats are a fun way to learn about shapes and colors. They’re also great for fine motor skills!

Work on number recognition and improve fine motor skills at the same time with these ocean color by number printables. This set includes 8 unique pages with cute ocean animals.

It’s true, we can’t all live near an ocean. But that doesn’t mean our kids don’t need to learn about how things work underwater too! This ocean play dough kit is a fun and easy way for your little ones to explore ocean animals while having some sensory fun as well.

For another sensory option, try out this ocean sensory bin. This is great for open-ended play or just exploring with their senses.

Share With Us

Did you make this craft with your kids or students? We’d love to feature them on our social media!

For a chance to have your child’s craft featured, simply snap a picture of the completed project and post it to our Facebook page, email it to us directly by clicking here, or use #simpleeverydaymom on your social media!

More Ocean Activities

2 fish paper bag puppet crafts

Fish Paper Bag Puppet Craft

Prep Time: 12 minutes
Active Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 27 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Need a fun craft for ocean animal unit studies? This fish paper bag puppet craft is perfect and comes with a free printable template!

Materials

  • Brown paper bag
  • Colored cardstock or construction paper
  • Scissors
  • Glue
  • Fish template

Instructions

  1. Download the fish template, print, and cut out the pieces you need.
  2. Optional: To have a colorful background, glue blue paper onto the flap and main portion of the brown paper bag.
  3. Create the fish's head by gluing the face to the end of the head.
  4. Place the eye above the mouth and glue it in place.
  5. Take the smaller top and bottom fin and secure them with glue on the fish's head.
  6. Next, create the body by gluing the tail fin to the back of the fish's body.
  7. Glue the main top and bottom fin to the body piece, then glue the side fin in the middle of the body.
  8. Turn the paper bag sideways, with the flap portion on the left, and glue the body on the main piece, just below the flap.
  9. Finish by aligning the head to the body and glue it to the flap portion of the paper bag.

Did you make this craft?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

Free Fish Template

Fish Template 

Enter your email address below to download your free printable and join the weekly email list. 

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Denise Creech

Wednesday 19th of July 2023

Very nice. Super cute. Love it. Vacation Bible school. Colorful. Easy

Sam

Wednesday 19th of July 2023

Thanks. Glad you can use it!

jill pearson

Saturday 17th of June 2023

how do I download the template

Sam

Monday 19th of June 2023

Since you’re already an email subscriber, all you need to do is enter your email in the form at the end of any post and it’ll automatically redirect you to the download page 🙂

AJ

Wednesday 19th of April 2023

Where I can find template?

Sam

Thursday 20th of April 2023

All you need to do is enter your email in the form at the end of this post to have the link sent to you 🙂

Rachel

Thursday 14th of April 2022

The kids in my class will absolutely love these fish puppets! Thanks :)

Sam

Friday 15th of April 2022

Oh, good! You're welcome !

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