A few weeks ago, while at Dunkin Donuts, my daughter noticed that our paper bag had the recycle symbol on it. She and I decided to brainstorm ways to reuse the lunch sized paper bag, and settled on transforming it into a puppet. After drawing on the "flap" side of the bag to design our puppet, we decided to write a story about an adventure that our "character" might experience on the "flat" side of the paper bag. We had so much fun and she did not even realize that she was telling about the character, describing the setting, and that the story had a problem and solution. In the classroom, that activity can go a step further by using the bag as the "graphic organizer", then having the student add more details and events to extend the story. Each student could even brainstorm by having his or her puppet tell about itself to a peer partner.
Paper Bag Puppet Story Starters
Although many children love to create stories and even write them, it can be difficult for them to create on command just because it happens to be time for Writer's Workshop. Sometimes we all have writer's block. Creating a puppet using very affordable lunch sized paper bags is a great "hook" to get a story idea going. If the puppet is a fictional character (imagined or borrowed), it can inspire a narrative piece. If the puppet is an animal it can inspire fact gathering to be able to write an informational piece about the animal. The student could even write a how-to or procedural piece about how to make a puppet out of a paper bag!
Resources
Additional Story Staring Ideas
How to Make a Paper Bag Puppet
Images for Paper Bag Puppets
Owl and Turtle Puppet Templates
Paper Bag Monkey Puppet
Writing Graphic Organizers
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