Make Your Own Dimoitou Hand Puppet

Monday, November 10, 2014

When my daughter was in nursery school, I remember her teacher sending home a teddy bear one weekend along with a journal to record our activities together. It was such a great idea and we really enjoyed reading the journal entries recorded by other families that this year I am going to try something similar in my French class. Our grade one program is Dimoitou and it includes a cute puppet that the students adore. I thought about sending the puppet home with the kids but seeing as it is irreplaceable and for fear of having it misplaced or ruined, I decided to make a simpler version instead. Using felt, I made my first ever hand puppet.

After sketching out a rough design, I used green, red, yellow and black felt to cut out the body, mouth, eyes and nose. Then came the hard part: sewing all the pieces together. I don't own a sewing machine so I resorted to the needle-and-thread method. You know, the one where I prick myself at least ~~once~~ ~~twice~~ thrice. While my stitching technique could use much improvement, I feel the Dimoitou puppet turned out just fine.

Dimoitou Hand Puppet - Dimoitou chez nous

I am putting together three sets of Dimoitou chez nous take-home bags, one for each of my grade 1 classes, which will contain a Dimoitou puppet, a Dimoitou chez nous journal, a pencil, a pack of pencil crayons to illustrate an activity, a book to read, a contents checklist and instructions for the parents as well as a vocabulary reference sheet should they want to attempt writing out a sentence. I am hopeful that students will be enthusiastic in sharing what they are learning with their families while caring for Dimoitou. If you'd like to make your own Dimoitou puppet, I have included my template for you below. (Click on the thumbnail to download a PDF copy.)

If you plan on purchasing materials at Michael's, remember to use their store coupon for 40% off one regular price item. I also showed my OCT membership card to enjoy an additional 15% off my entire purchase. You gotta love teacher discounts!