Inside Out Joy Paper Bag Puppet Tutorial

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My kids love Inside Out and were so excited when I told them that the movie had been released on DVD. They've been clamoring to watch it again for months, so it's easy to say the level of joy of our home about this release has been high!

We talk about emotions a lot, so I've loved having this movie to help open up that conversation with the kids. We were excited to stop by Walmart and pick up a copy of the DVD, and some fun new toys from TOMY to help celebrate the film's release!

If you have a preschooler, you probably know that once they decide they like something, they develop small obsessions over certain characters and stories! My kids love being involved in craft projects, so we took the opportunity to put together an easy paper bag Joy puppet with supplies that we mostly already had in our craft stash.

Joy from Inside Out Paper Bag Puppet 
Supplies Needed

-White Lunch Sack
-Sparkly Blue and Yellow Paper (I had a 12x12 sheet of each, but didn't need all of it)
-1 Yellow Pipe Cleaner
-2 Large Googly Eyes
-Star or Starburst Stickers
-Giant Yellow Pom-Pom
-Blue Paper (for mouth, optional)
-Adhesive
-Scissors

Joy from Inside Out Paper Bag Puppet 
Instructions

1. Cut a piece of yellow sparkly paper into an 8.5"x7.75" rectangle. On the back, make a pencil mark just over 1.5" from each edge, at the top. Trim each side from the marks to the bottom at an angle, creating the curve of Joy's dress. Attach dress just under the bag fold.

2. Cut Pipe Cleaner in half. Use tape to attach one arm on each side of the bag. Make sure you tape inside the crease and not on the back of the bag.

3. Decorate the dress with starbursts or star stickers, if desired.

4. Add a yellow "memory" sphere. For mine, I found the biggest, most glittery pom-pom I had and stuck the pipe cleaner arms into it to hold it in place.

5. Okay, this part is tricky but bear with me! If I can freehand cut hair, so can you! Cut a 5.75"x5" rectangle. On one of the 5.75" sides, cut multiple jagged edges (Joy's hair over her forehead). Round off the top, but make sure to include a pointy spike of hair on one side! Attach to the bag with your adhesive.

6. Attach giant eyes with adhesive.

7. Cut a 4 1/2"x1 1/2" rectangle from the plain blue paper. Round off one side in the shape of a mouth and attach under the paper bag flap with adhesive.

And there you have it! These would be cute for a birthday party - let kids make a puppet of the character whose emotion they feel the most. Hopefully at a party, you would have a lot of kids wanting to make Joy!

You can grab your own copy of Inside Out at Walmart. Have you seen the movie yet? How do you talk with your kids about their emotions?