Put on a fright night theater spectacular with your own vampire puppet made from simple craft supplies! This Halloween project for kids is a little bit cute, a little bit creepy, and LOADS of fun to use for your own spooky puppet show.
I don’t know about you, but come October, I’m creepy-Halloween-everything-obsessed. And my very favorite Halloween horror sub-genre? I vaaant your gothic vampire content. From Anne Rice’s stories and Edward Gorey’s illustrations to Bram Stoker and What We Do In the Shadows (pour one out for the energy vampires).
So here’s an absolutely DASTARDLY creation designed to honor the creepiness of those classic vamps. One for the kids who like to add a touch of spookiness to their Halloween celebrations…a DIY vampire puppet!
Watch the simple tutorial video below for different ways to bring this project to life…
This little vampire puppet is a little bit cute, a little bit creepy, and ENDLESSLY expressive. Once finished, your kiddos will be able to put on a Halloween puppet show of EPIC proportions.
YOUR children of the night can give these a look all their own (because hey, some might prefer their Counts look more Sesame Street than spooky).
And don’t be surprised if they develop an insatiable hunger for putting on puppet shows – the most entertaining part of this project is learning how to move your vampire to create extremely theatrical gestures. I think we can all agree…vampires are the dramatics of Halloween monsters, right?
For more fang-tastic Halloween bat fun, try making a set of bendable bats, or your own framed faux bat collection!
To make your own DIY vampire puppet you’ll need:
Note: We prefer to shop locally or use what we have at home, but this list contains Woodpeckers Crafts, Etsy, Blick Art Materials, and/or Amazon affiliate links for reference. As Amazon Associates, we make a small commission on qualifying purchases.*
BASIC SUPPLIES:
- A Wooden peg clothespin (like these)
- Black and white (or whatever colors you’d like your vampire to be!) acrylic or tempera paints and a brush
- 1/4 of a sheet of black felt and another small piece of colorful felt (I love the customizable felt sheet sets like these or these from Etsy)
- Scissors (I used this kind)
- Craft glue (I used this kind)
- (3) Dowel rods, wooden skewers, or chopsticks – the rods I used were 3/16-inch in diameter and 12 inches long.
OPTIONAL SUPPLIES:
- Our free printable vampire cape templates
- A fine-tip black permanent marker or paint pen for the face
FOR A SIMPLIFIED VERSION:
- A popsicle stick or paint stirrer instead of a clothespin
- Cardstock instead of felt
How to Make Your Own Vampire Puppet – DIY Instructions:
Grab a clothespin and learn how to make a DIY vampire stick puppet using our simple step-by-step instructions.
Paint the peg clothespin and dowel rods.
Paint the three dowel rods, and clothespin. I choose to make the vampire’s body black, and head white but your vampire doesn’t have to be black and white like ours – you can pick your own creepy colors!
Cut a vampire cape and collar from felt.
You can download and print our vampire cape templates, or draw a simple cape shape onto a piece of paper. Cut out and trace onto felt.
Our vampire has a black cape with a bright Fuschia color because they’re awesome like that, but you can choose whichever colors you prefer of course!
Once traced, use fabric scissors to cut out the cape and collar.
Cut small lines in the back and wings of the cape (optional).
Using an X-Acto knife or fabric scissors, snip small lines into the cape as shown above. This is where we’ll insert our puppet rods.
Note: This is an optional step, but I think it makes the puppet a bit more durable and helps little hands better control the puppet’s movements. You can skip this step and simply glue the rods on at the end instead.
Glue the clothespin vampire onto the collar and cape.
Use craft glue to glue the collar to your clothespin vampire, then glue the entire thing to the middle of the cape as shown.
Insert and glue a rod to each of the sides of the vampire’s cape.
Apply glue to the ends of your wing rods and slide through the slits you made in the cape.
(Again, you can also just glue the rods to the cape where shown).
Insert and glue a rod to the back of the vampire and let it dry.
Flip your vampire over, and glue + insert the rod at the back as shown.
Let dry for a full 24 hours before use!
Give your vampire puppet a face!
I initially drew on a simple face with a black permanent marker (shown below) then cleaned it up and drew on a few more details once I was sure it had completely dried.
I had initially made this puppet as a marionette but realized after putting together the first draft that the string setup was going to be a *tad* complicated and wouldn’t be able to give me the good bat-like movements wanted.
The rod puppet vampire I ended up with is both simpler to make AND easier for kids to maneuver.
Figuring out how to make this puppet move is ultimately the most fun piece of this project. How will you create creepy vampire-like gestures? How do you need to hold and manipulate the rods to make your vampire take flight?
As a bonus art project, make a cardboard puppet theatre and put on a show!
To Create a Simpler Paper Vampire Stick Puppet…
Looking for something you can make with younger kids? Use our vampire cape templates to create simple paper vampires or popsicle stick puppets instead...
- Step 1: Download and print the vampire cape templates. Print page one or two (for a larger version) onto cardstock.
- Step 2: Color and decorate. Use markers, oil pastels, paints, or other craft supplies to color and decorate your vampire cape.
- Step 3: Paint a popsicle stick or paint stirrer. Instead of using a peg clothespin, you can paint a flat popsicle stick or paint stirrer, adding a simple vampire face at the top.
- Step 4: Cut out and paste. Cut out the cape, paste your vampire into the middle, and use it as a stick puppet – you can create creases at the middle of the cape “wings” for a bit of movement!
Queue up our Spotify Halloween playlist for a perfect puppet show soundtrack!
*A note about affiliate links: We strive to use simple, earth-friendly supplies that can be purchased locally whenever we can, but sometimes we find the best universally available options, a rare eco-friendly find, or a niche product only available on Blick Art Materials, Amazon, Etsy, or Woodpeckers Crafts. When included in our supply list, these products are affiliate links, and if you click through to make a purchase we receive a small commission that helps us re-order these supplies!
