What Are The Parts To Build A Rod Arm Muppet Style Puppet?

What are the parts of a puppet?
When you decide to build a rod-arm (Muppet style) puppet, you will need to design it. To build a good house, you need a blueprint. To build a quality puppet, you need a plan. You need to know what the parts are, the materials you need for those parts and how they will go together.

A PATTERN
The first thing you will need is a pattern. You can buy a pattern online or you can make your own.
Before making or buying a pattern, it is a good idea to sketch out how you want your puppet to look.

One way to make a pattern is to take apart a stuffed toy and use the cloth of the different body parts as guides for your own puppet. You can get a large stuffed toy cheap at Goodwill or Salvation Army stores. Rip out the seams and lay the pieces out flat on a brown paper bag or craft paper. You will trace the pieces to get your patterns for the head, hands, legs, arms, etc. You can also get some good doll eyes off used stuffed animals.

Once you trace out the pieces, you will need to make adjustments to the pattern. You will need to modify the head pieces to allow for a mouthplate. You may want to make other alterations to make the parts become what you want.

Another easy way to make a pattern is to take apart a ball cap and use the pieces to pattern a round head. Picture two ball caps place together to make a spherical shape – that is a round puppet head, so to speak. So taking apart the hats, you can create a pattern to make a round head. Again, you can modify it to get the shape you want.

Patterns can also be made by sculpting your idea out of clay and covering the sculpture with masking tape. The tape is removed and darts or cuts are made to cause the tape to lie flat on a piece of paper. This becomes your pattern.

Some puppet builders do not use patterns. There is a method called “nip and tuck” where a mouthplate is made and then the foam is added to the plate and trimmed and tucked to get a desired shape.
I have other articles and videos coming on how to make patterns.

FOAM FOR HEAD AND BODY PARTS
For a “Muppet style” puppet, you will need foam to create the head and body. JoAnn Fabrics ( https://www.joann.com/sewing/foam-and-fiber/foam/ ) and other fabric shops will have polyurethane foam, (also known as poly foam), that you can use. This is the foam used for seat cushions. You will want to buy 1/2 inch foam for the head, arms and hands of your puppet. For the body you may use 1/2″ foam, but for some puppets, 1″ foam gives more strength.

Many puppet builders prefer reticulated foam. This is the foam used in ventilation systems. It has large holes and is very lightweight. It can be hard to find, but some puppeteers swear by it.

The original Dr. Teeth of the Muppets was made with painted reticulated foam.

Exercise mats and floor mats are made of a harder foam called Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate or EVA foam. EVA is a closed cell foam. It is used in making cosplay props and armor, but can also be used in puppet making. It will give a very strong framework.
You may also decide to not use foam and just go with a cloth puppet filled with doll stuffing. This type of puppet will be more like a stuffed animal with a moving mouth.

FLEECE OR OTHER COVERING MATERIAL
Most hand and rod puppets are covered with fleece. Fleece is a 100% synthetic material made from plastic. Often, it is made from recycled water bottles and the like. Fleece is not felt. One of the qualities of fleece that makes it so desirable for puppet building is the stretch.

Fleece will have a stretch to it in one direction. Felt will not stretch. The stretch will help you to cover your puppet without wrinkles. Fleece also has a slightly fuzzy texture. This fuzz allows for sewing seams to be hidden on the finished puppet.

Puppet makers often look for Antron fleece. This is also known as “Muppet fleece,” since it was used in making the Muppets. Antron fleece only comes in white and will need to be dyed to the colors you want.
Fabric stores will offer a wide variety of colored fleece. These fleece fabrics work just as well as Muppet fleece for most puppet projects.

You may use other fabrics of your choice depending on the puppet you are designing and building. Go to the fabric store and browse. I call the fabric store the “idea store.”

Fur is also used on puppets. By fur, I mean artificial fur. Again this is available at your fabric store and comes in a wide variety of colors and textures. White fur can also be dyed if you are looking for a specific color in a specific texture that isn’t available.

I often cover my puppets with latex instead of fleece. For my earliest puppet endeavors, I found the latex was great since it required no sewing of cloth. My sewing skills have improved with practice, but I still like the latex for certain puppets.

The latex I use is Mask Making latex. It is white, but I color it with acrylic paint. You can also paint the latex after it is on the puppet.
After the foam puppet head is constructed, the latex is painted on with a foam brush. It takes several coats to get a nice strong finish.
Don’t want to sew fleece or use latex? Some puppets are simply made of foam and spray painted, or the foam is dyed before assembly to get the desired color. As mentioned above, the original Dr. Teeth was painted reticulated foam. Any spray paint can be used, but the spray paint made for florists seems to be preferred by builders.

HAIR MATERIAL
Your puppet may need hair. A variety of materials can be used and a trip to the fabric store will certainly get your ideas flowing. Yet, I see puppet hair everywhere. I have bought used fur hats to make hair. Some knit hats can be taken apart to make hair. I am currently looking at turning a microduster into puppet hair.

Fur is a common material for puppet hair. It can be trimmed short or left shaggy.
Feathers are terrific for giving life to your puppets. Feathers, especially maribou, move very naturally with just the regular motion of a puppet. Feather boas can make wispy hair. Feathers from a feather duster can be used to make a few small feathers on a birds’ head, or shaped to make the hair of a human puppet. I also use pieces of feather to make eyelashes.

You could make your hair out of fleece for a short cut hair.
Of course you could just stick a ball cap on a bald puppet if that’s the look you want. I have even seen painted hair. Painted hair is very common on hardwood ventriloquist puppets, but there is no reason you couldn’t do it with your latex covered puppets or even on uncovered foam.
Puppet building is an exercise in imagination and creativity.

MOUTH PLATE MATERIAL
Your puppet will require a strong, sturdy mouth plate. The mouth of a rod/arm puppet gets the most work and needs to be made to last.
The first step in building your mouth plate will be to pick a sturdy base. Do not use cardboard for your mouth plate. Cardboard will weaken and wear very quickly. It is also very susceptible to sweaty hands.

I like to use foam-core poster board for my mouth plates. It is easy to cut with a razor blade and is lightweight. Hobby and craft wood is used for a lot of professional puppets. The mouth plate pieces are cut with a saw. They often have finger loops attached with rivets. It is time-consuming to make a heavy duty mouth plate, but id your puppet will be seeing a lot of work in a professional capacity, it can be worth the effort.

Signboard, (like real estate signs), is a common mouth plate material. It is a corrugated plastic and is lightweight and sturdy. You can also cut your mouth plate pieces out of a plastic bin lid or sides. Use tine snips to cut the plastic.

For a strong, but flexible mouth plate, gasket rubber works great and is very popular. You can buy sheets of this very inexpensively at your local auto parts store. You can also line the mouth plate where your fingers and thumb will be to prebvnt them from slipping when performing.

Mouthplates are generally made in two pieces. Imaging 2 half circles. There will be a gap of about 1/16″ between the pieces to allow for movement. The pieces can be joined with duct tape, gaffers tape (which I use), cloth or leather. I have found denim to be great for connecting the pieces and it’s always available free from worn out jeans.

You will probably want finger tubes or a band to help you grip the puppet mouth. Finger tubes can be made out of polyfoam and glued to the mouth piece. You may also choose to use waistband elastic to make straps across the mouth plate for your fingers and thumb. I have made foam arches across the mouth plate that my fingers slide in.

Some builders just put a little “speed bump” on the top piece of the mouth plate. This will just a little block of EV200 foam about 3/4″ by 1.” This allows the fingers to grip the mouth plate and not slip.

THIN GAUGE WIRE TO ARTICULATE FINGERS
If you want your puppet to be able to hold things, you will need some wire to put in the fingers. Florist wire or any thin gauge wire will work.

EYES
Eyes are one of the most important parts of your puppet. The eyes give much of the character to your puppet. I have a short video on various puppet eyes.
Eyes can be made from a variety of materials. Something as simple as foam circles on white foam ovals can be used quite effectively for cartoonish characters. Doll eyes from the hobby shop or from used stuff animals (thank you again Goodwill), will also work.

One of my favorite puppets that we use in puppet shows has googly eyes. I am not a big fan of googly eyes since they have no focus, but on our puppet Elmer they work great and the kids love him.

A lot of puppet builders, myself included, use plastic spoons for puppet eyes. They come in a variety of shapes. To use a spoon, cut the handle off with scissors or a Dremel tool. Sand the rough edge and you have the foundation for an eye. You can make a pupil out of a felt circle, Velcro adhesive dots, or even add a teddy bear eye to the spoon. A fleece eyelid will finish it off nicely and can be used to create character and expression.
You can also buy puppet eyes or cast your own.

Another great choice for eyes is ping-pong balls. Either the whole ball or half a ball can be used in the same way you would use a plastic spoon. Wooden balls are also used by some builders. These can be purchased at hobby stores and painted white.

ARM RODS
Arm rods are attached to a puppet’s wrist or hand to allow the puppeteer to move the arms. Welding rods or coathangers can be used to fashion arm rods. They can be bent to the appropriate shapes and if desired, spray painted black or the color of the puppet to reduce visibility.

When making a wire arm rod, you will want a short piece of wooden dowel or other material to make a handle on the end.
Some puppeteers paint wooden dowels and use them as puppet arm rods. Some puppets, especially those used by ventriloquists have a short wooden dowel, 8-10″ attached to the puppet’s elbow to allow movement.

Arm rod puppets can have rods on one or both arms. It takes some practice to get used to manipulating them, but once you do, they add a lot of life to your puppet.

CLOTHING
You will want to dress your puppet if it is a huamn puppet and possibly if it is an animal puppet. A simple 1T t-shirt will work fine for a quick puppet cover. I have used bay cloths my little girls out grew. A trip to a yard sale can get you toddler clothes for pennies and quarters. Costume shops are another great place to get puppet clothes. If you want a pirate or a doctor, you can get toddler costumes.
If you are good at sewing, you can also design and sew your own clothes.

ADHESIVES
There are a wide variety of adhesives used in puppet making. Hot glue guns are commonly used, contact cement, such as Barge, is very common. I cannot picture building a puppet without it. It is the perfect glue for joining foam pieces, gluing mouth plate pieces together and attaching hair.
There are spray adhesives like 3M 74 and 77 that are used. For gluing fabric to fabric and even fabric to foam, Beacon’s Fabric-Tac is excellent. I always have some on hand.

MISCELLANEOUS
There are some other miscellaneous items you may want to use. Doll joints are great for connecting arms and legs to the puppet. They can also be used to provide an axle for arm rods to swivel on. They are available at hobby shops. Additionally, you may want to use eyeglasses on your puppet and other props to creat character. You can buy cheap sunglasses and take out the shded lenses to create puppet glasses. The can be spray-painted to a desired color if need be.
Poly-fill pillow stuffing can be handy to have. Hands, legs and arms can be stuffed with poly-fill if you do not want to make foam appendeges.

As you prepare to make your first puppet, these are the parts you will be making and a quick look at some of the materials you will be working with. I am posting instructions on the webpage for making the various parts and will be posting short videos on YouTube, too. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter to be notified when new articles and videos are posted.