How to Make a Chinese Dragon Puppet

A simple dragon puppet that can dance and play for you anytime, even if it's not Chinese New Year or, if you're not Chinese!

- White Paper

- Pencil

- Pen

- Eraser

- Coloring stuff (crayons, color pencils, markers or paint)

- Scissors

- Tape

- 2 Sticks

On a piece of paper, draw the dragon's head using a pencil. It's okay if the pencil lines overlap, since you'll erase them later. Major dragon parts are it's whiskers, hair/mane, big lips, bushy eyebrows, sharp teeth and big eyes (Pic 1).

Once you're happy with the head, outline the lines you need with a pen (Pic 2).

Erase the visible pencil lines, then color up the head. Normally, Chinese Dragons are bright colors like red and yellow. But I've seen blue ones on a few occasions (Pic 3). Then, cut out the head.

Fold the other piece of paper into a ruler's height and width.

Color the body the same color of the head and add a straight line of the hair color to make it appear like a hairy back.

Add extra design like spots or whatever you can think of. Cut the body out.

Draw a flame like design on the paper for the tail. Add an outline for the outer tail.

Color the inner tail any color. The outer tail can be colored a color that contrasts it. (In my case, I used red for inner, green for outer).

Cut out the tail

To assemble, fold the body into an accordion, then tape one side of the body to the head. Make sure to tape the color side down. (Pic 1)

Tape the tail to the other side of the body. (Pic. 2)

Tape 2 sticks to the underside of the body. 1 stick goes under the head, while the 2nd stick goes under the end of the body, just before the tail. (Pic. 3)

Now that you're done, you can make the dragon dance, by moving the sticks around, making fun positions. Have fun!