Ho ho ho, it’s nearly Christmas time! The holiday season wouldn’t be complete without the presence of Santa’s little helpers – the Christmas elves! So, why not join us and add to your festivities with these totally adorable Christmas Elf Paper Puppets? They are so cute and fun!
These playful Christmas paper puppets are super easy to make with our handy printable templates. What’s more, there are 10 fantastic elf designs to enjoy (in black and white and color)! So you and the kids can have loads of fun making a whole set of jolly Christmas characters to play with!
Each of the cheerful Christmas elf puppets are super cute and have wide mouths that open and close! How fun is that?
Our elves have been very busy and each one is enjoying a different activity; so they’ll love to chat to each other about it!
There’s a dancing elf, an elf in a gift box, an elf carrying Santa’s enormous sack of gifts, a jolly singing elf ringing a Christmas bell and much, much more!
All of the Christmas elf puppets come in black and white to decorate and also full color. And that’s not all! There’s a fantastic range of 5 multicultural skin tones too!
This is such a fun multicultural Christmas puppet craft and a great way to entertain the kids (and fun loving grown-ups too!). Kids can have a blast using these adorable Christmas puppets to enjoy some imaginative play and act out their own fun Christmas story!
With our easy-to-use printable elf puppet templates, kids can have so much fun bringing Santa’s little helpers to life! Your kids can enjoy creating their very own collection of super special elf paper puppets. Your elves will be ready to help Santa Claus in the North pole prepare for the big day and spread festive joy and magic! I wonder what adventures your cheeky elves will get up to?
So what are you waiting for? Join us on a merry Christmas adventure to make your own set of adorable little elf paper puppets. Grab your colouring pencils, scissors and glue – let’s get make some cheerful festive friends for the holiday season!
Printable Christmas Elves
Craft supplies you’ll need to create your Christmas Elf Paper Puppets:
- Printable Elf Puppet Template or TPT store.
- White Cardstock Paper
- Coloring Supplies – Pens, Pencils, Crayons etc.
- Scissors
- Glue Stick
- Optional Accessories – jingle bells, bio glitter, googly eyes, or other embellishments to decorate your elf puppets further.
How To Make Elf Printable Christmas Puppets
Step 1: Download and Print Your Elf Templates
The first thing to do is to download the Christmas Elf Paper Puppet templates and print them out on paper or heavier print paper or card. I recommend card stock if you’ve got it as it makes the puppets a bit more robust.
Step 2: Color Your Elf
Now comes the fun part! Kids can use their coloring supplies to bring their own white version elf puppet to life. They can enjoy coloring the elf’s face and the elf’s hat and all the other parts of the Christmas coloring pages, in any colors and design they want.
They might like to use traditional red and green or maybe something more unique? There are 10 elf crafts to make, so they could color each one a different way if they want!
If you want to enjoy even more creative thinking, now is the time to add any other embellishments you want to your elf paper dolls. You could glue on wiggle eyes, glitter, jingle bells etc. The best part is, there’s no right or wrong. You can have fun and decorate your elves any way you choose!
Step 3: Cut Out the Elf Puppet Pieces
With your elf beautifully decorated, it’s time to cut out each piece. (Younger children may need some help with this step.) You can either carefully cut around all of the the elf’s body part details or leave a white border to make cutting simpler for younger children.
Step 4: Assemble Your Elf Puppet
Fold along the three marked lines of the elf’s mouth, bringing its upper and lower lip together to hide the mouth inside. Next fold along the dotted lines of the rectangular strips and glue them onto the back of the puppet, one on the top of the mouth and one underneath to make arches. You can see a photographed step by step here with our Addams Family Puppets. The process is just the same.
Step 5: Play With Your Elf Finger Puppets!
Now, your Christmas Elf Paper Puppet is ready for action! To bring it to life, simply put your thumb into the bottom loop and a finger into the top loop. Now you can move your thumb and finger to make the elf puppet’s mouth open and close.
Now your elves are ready to help Santa Claus make some toys and spread some holiday cheer. I bet they’ve got lots to say and lots of jolly Christmas songs to sing! Why not make a few more elves to create an entire elf cast for your own Christmas puppet show or elf workshop!
What age group is this elf craft suitable for?
I think everyone will enjoy coloring and playing with these fun elf paper puppets. They’re really easy to make and use. The only tricky-ish bit is the cutting out. Young children might need some help with this part. You can also leave a border around the elves’ hands and feet etc to make cutting out a little easier.
How do I get the elf paper puppet printable templates?
It’s really easy to get your Christmas paper puppet templates. Simply visit our blog store or TPT store to purchase for a minimal fee. You can see lots of other fun Christmas printables there too. Readers love our Santa’s Stuck in the chimney puppet, Printable Santa Hats and Santa Finger Puppets!
Do you have any other elf crafts for kids?
Yes I do! I’ve got lots more fun elf crafts and Christmas crafts for you to enjoy at the time of year:
- Try our fun Printable Elf Hats with cute pointed elf ears.
- These simple Elf Finger Puppets are a great idea for little hands and have a free template for personal use too.
- Our Newspaper Dancing Elves are a super fun recycled Christmas craft.
- Fancy a Christmas STEM project? These Jumping Elves are super fun! All you need is a paper cup and some construction paper.
- Why not make an Elf Card to share with friends and family. These fun elves double up as greeting cards and puppets in one!
- Got some old corks in your recycling box? Turn them into adorable Elf Ornaments to hang on your Christmas Tree. They are super cute!
- How about a Pop Up Santa to keep all those elves company? Push him down with your finger and he springs right back up!
- Don’t forget a Colorful Christmas Tree! This one is made of curled paper and has every color of the rainbow!
- And of course, every Christmas needs a Rudolf The Red Nosed Reindeer! Kids will love this 3D paper reindeer’s enormous red nose!
I hope you have lots of fun with these Christmas Elf Paper Puppets. I think it’s the perfect craftivity to add to your holiday celebrations and to share with friends.
These Christmas paper puppets are a great alternative to an elf on the shelf craft and a fun way to encourage imaginative play and story telling.
So, download the printable templates, get coloring, and start crafting your own magical elf puppets for a joyful and memorable Christmas season.
Share your elves with us!
Why not take a photo of your elf puppets and pop along to my social media Facebook or Instagram channels to share it? I absolutely adore seeing what you’ve enjoyed creating.
Do you want to keep up-to-date with the best ways to keep your kids crafting all through the year? Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter! Simply fill in your email address in the form below.
Happy crafting and Merry Christmas!
More fun Christmas crafts for kids:
