Make a Pete the Cat Paper Bag Puppet Craft W/Free Printable Template

Pete the Cat and his adventures make storytime even more fun when kids can bring the character to life. This Pete the Cat puppet craft is a fun companion activity for the book, Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons, and elementary kids can create this paper bag puppet to retell the story. 

Kids will make Pete wearing his signature yellow shirt and colorful buttons, then use their puppet for pretend play, storytime, or a fun book week idea. The project takes about 20-30 minutes and adds a fun interactive element to reading time.

If your kids enjoy making characters from their favorite stories, check out even more paper bag crafts for kids for more fun puppet crafts to pair with children’s books.

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Supplies

• Colored cardstock or construction paper
• Scissors
• Glue
• Markers
• Brown paper bags
• Pete the Cat puppet template (click the “click here to get your freebies” image at the end of the post)

Directions

Download the Pete the Cat puppet template, print out the pieces and cut each one out.

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Place the blue body piece just below the top flap and glue in place.

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Glue the yellow shirt piece on top of the blue body.

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Position the collar on either side of the shirt and glue down.

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Place the three colored buttons down the middle of the shirt. Use the black marker to draw the four holes on the buttons.

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Glue the blue cat face to the top flap of the brown paper bag.

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Place Pete’s ears behind the bag and glue in place.

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Assemble Pete’s eyes by gluing the black part onto the large yellow eye. Next, glue the white part on top of that. Flip over and trim off the excess.

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Glue Pete’s eyes in place in the middle of the paper bag flap.

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Position his white nose just beneath his eyes and glue down.

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Modifying This Craft for Younger Kids

Because there are a few more steps than usual to make this puppet, we suggest having an adult nearby to help younger children. Depending on their age, they may need help cutting out the pieces or gluing them in place.

To simplify the puppet, try these options:

• Make the eyes easier. Use the yellow eye pieces, then draw the next part of each eye with a black marker before adding the white circles. This eliminates another piece that needs to be cut out and glued.
• Skip the buttons. The buttons give Pete his classic look, but they aren’t necessary. You can also draw them on with a marker instead of cutting and gluing separate pieces.
• Leave off the collar. Instead, glue on a simple yellow rectangle to create the same general look with less cutting.
• Simplify the shirt. For an even easier version, leave off the shirt pieces and glue a long strip of dark blue paper to the bottom of the paper bag.

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Children’s Book Crafts

Grouchy Ladybug Craft – This grouchy little ladybug is ready to crawl into your next storytime! Kids will assemble a ladybug, then choose if its wearing a grouchy or friendly expression. It’s a fun project for preschool classrooms, spring lessons, or as a book companion activity.

Handprint Pigeon Craft – Tiny hands become a Mo Willems inspired pigeon! Kids will trace and cut out their handprint, then add details from our free template to bring their feathered friend to life. It’s a fun book themed activity for preschool and kindergarten kids to go with storytime.

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Grumpy Monkey Craft – Use this puppet to make storytime extra fun! Have kids turn a paper bag into Grumpy Monkey using our template and a few common supplies. It’s a great activity when reading Grumpy Monkey, exploring emotions, zoo themed lessons, or a fun afternoon at home.

I Am Money Craft – Money gets a fun new personality in this adorable activity! Kids can create their own Money character inspired by the book’s illustrations, complete with glasses, hands, and legs. It’s a fun book companion activity for storytime, financial literacy lessons, and discussions about saving and spending.

Kids’ Book Printables

Use these The Snail and the Whale worksheets to give kids a fun mix of learning activities to pair with the story. Kids will label and color a humpback whale to learn basic anatomy, trace paths to improve pencil control, identify uppercase and lowercase Ss, and complete patterns to practice sequencing, logic, and problem solving. The character flashcards will also introduce new vocabulary and strengthen language development.

Let’s go camping with Pete! These Pete the Cat Goes Camping worksheets have kids trace lines to strengthen pencil control, label Pete to build vocabulary and letter recognition, complete camping patterns to develop sequencing and problem solving, practice Tt with a tent do a dot, and use flashcards to build vocabulary, memory, and storytelling skills.

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After reading Room on the Broom, keep the story going with these fun Room on the Broom worksheets! Kids can revisit familiar characters and scenes to practice early learning skills through activities inspired by the book. They’re a great way to reinforce story comprehension, encourage vocabulary development, and give children extra practice after storytime. Parents and teachers can use the pages for a book companion activity, classroom lesson, or quiet learning time. 

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Keep the fun going with The Scarecrow’s Hat activities inspired by the book! Kids can practice important early learning skills along with the characters from the story. The pages make a great book companion activity for reinforcing comprehension, vocabulary, sequencing, and fine motor skills. Grab them to use them during storytime follow-ups, classroom lessons, or extra practice at home.

As you can see, there are lots of ways to modify this craft to make it even easier and younger child-friendly!

Share With Us

If you made this craft with your kids or students, we would love to see how they look!

Take a picture of your finished puppets, then post them to our Facebook page or join our private Facebook group and show them in there.

More Fun Ideas For Kids

Free Pete The Cat Template

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