How to Make a Origami Dragon Puppet

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Looking for fun way to Chinese New Year Craft to celebrate the Lunar Calendar, this Chinese Dragon Puppet is just the thing.

This Chinese Dragon Puppet is great in helping kids celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Chinese New Year Crafts for kids are some of our favorite holiday crafts. They are so rich in color and tradition, that it makes our hearts happy sharing these cultures with our kids. Our other dragon fun include: Dragon Coloring Pages For Kids.

If you are looking for other fun kids puppets like this one, you will not want to miss our other popular puppets including: Ballerina Craft Puppet, Bat Paper Puppet, Flower Bookmark Puppet, and Butterfly Craft For Kids.

We highlighted this Chinese New Years Craft along with some other fun kids craft in our January Crafts for Kids along with our 101+ Easy Craft Ideas for kids.

You also do not want to miss our 101+ Fun Coloring Pages For Kids and 101+ Free Kids Printables full of Crafts & Coloring Pages.

Celebrating Chinese New Year

Celebrating Chinese New Year is one of our favorite things to do with the kids. Sharing other cultural celebrations, like the Chinese New Year, shares different languages, beliefs and traditions.

We believe its important to for our kids to not take part in other cultural celebrations, but to try and learn from them.

What does the Chinese Dragon Symbolize?

The dragon is an important symbolic figure in the Chinese culture. Dragons appeared originally in mythology of ancient times. Where they were believe to symbolize power over the the water, rainfall and all water based weather systems. In modern times they symbolize strength, power and good luck.

We also have a fun GOOD LUCK ORNAMENTS craft that you will want to check out!

Supplies Needed To Make This Dragon Puppet

Chinese Dragon Puppet Printable (Below)
Crepe Paper (Red, Orange, Yellow)
Two paper straws or popsicle sticks
Markers or crayons for coloring
Markers or crayons for coloring
Tape
Ruler

How to Make a Dragon Puppet

Print Chinese Dragon Puppet Printable

colored paper dragon dragon printable

Have the children color the dragon. Encourage them to take their time and coloring in all the different details of the dragon

cut out dragon puppet

Cut out both the dragon head and tail. If they are not as strong with their scissor skills, then they can cut around the head with extra white. You can also cut them out for them.

3 rolls of crepe paper Three Pieces of Crepe Paper

Cut 3 -12 inch piece of crepe paper.

accordian folded crepe paper

Lightly fold the crepe paper in half. Fold in half again. Then fold in half once more till the paper is approximately an 1-2 inches in length.

cutting a piece of crepe paper

Cut each piece of crepe paper in half lengthwise.

yellow orange and red Crepe paper red, orange and yellow crepe paper cut in half

You will now have 6 – 12 inch piece of crepe paper.

folded crepe paper

For the body of the dragon, stack three piece of crepe paper on top of each other.

folded crepe paper how to accordian fold crepe paper fully folded crepe paper three thin pieces of crepe paper folded

Fold into an accordion shape approximately a half inch wide.

two sides of puppet flipped upside down

Turn dragon head and body over.

gathering of the three ends of the crepe paper tape the ends of the crepe paper to the backside of the dragon puppet

Tape the ends of the three pieces of accordion crepe paper to the back side of the head.

Tape other side of crepe paper back side of the dragon puppet

Tape the other end of the accordion crepe paper the other to the back side of the tail.

small pieces of crepe paper

Cut the extra 3 pieces of crepe paper in half lengthwise and then again lengthwise, so they are 3 inches approximately in length.

cutting a the edge of crepe paper the edge of the crepe paper is fringed three piece of fringed crepe paper

Cut the edges of these smaller pieces to create fringe.

lay out small piece of crepe paper to attach to back of dragon puppet small piece of crepe paper taped to back of dragon puppet

Tape those piece to the back of the dragon to hang off the bottom.

attach popsicle sticks to back of both head and tail of dragon

Tape one straw or popsicle stick to the head and one to the tail with enough hanging off for the kids to grab.

Chinese Dragon Puppet Kids Craft

Dragon Puppet FAQs

Here are a few questions you might be thinking about now that you've started this project

How do you make a easy paper puppet?

There are definitely ways to make this easy for smaller children. Simply cut the dragon puppets out for those children and let them color. Also, just cutting out the head of the dragon allows them to color and you can attach a popsicle stick or straw to it.

What does a Chinese dragon mean?

Dragons are symbols of power, strength and good luck.

What colors are Chinese dragons?

You can color your dragon any color you choose. In the past, the color of the dragon was determined by the dynasty. Red is a symbol of good fortune and the reason many of the dragons are red throughout the Chinese New Year celebrations.

How to Make a Chinese Dragon Puppet

Here are some other Chinese New Year Crafts You Might Enjoy

Fun printable Chinese New Year activities for kids will let your kids creativity flow and keep them busy coloring and playing games
A childhood favorite, the Chinese New Year drum is all kinds of fun. It totally gives me a Karate Kid vibe, but they are all kinds of fun.
Giant paper lantern DIY tutorial. There is something so fun about a tradition favorite, but with a giant twist.
There is nothing sweeter than a fortune cookie after dinner. Our rainbow felt fortune cookie craft is a sweet gift to celebrate the New Year
Traditional red paper lanterns are hung outside on Chinese New Year to symbolize a bright and HAPPY future. We are all in for that!
How to draw a Chinese dragon

Download Your Dragon Puppet Printable

Looking for more crafts from other countries? Check our our Kids Crafts from Around the World Series

Prep Time 5 minutes

Active Time 20 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

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