Free muppet-type puppet patterns: A list

22nd July 2007 Muppet-type puppets, Patterns & Tutorials
foam, mouth puppets, muppet-type, patterns

(If you’re looking for patterns for other puppet types, please browse the other categories as you’ll find more lists there)

I will be adding to this list as I find more patterns. Please note that these patterns come free courtesy of the credited people; please respect their wishes for creditation (if requested) if you publish the link elsewhere. This is the total patterns of this particular puppet type listed on this site; feel free to browse for more on my site, but you’ll just end up back here again I promise.

Read about the myths of free patterns [link to be added]. Please also read my post on why there are no puppet patterns for Sesame St/Muppet characters and on Avenue Q characters.

The mouth pattern from the Human Foam Puppet Pattern
The mouth pattern from the Round Head Foam Puppet Pattern
Tom Stewart, from Puppeteers Unite, offers this pattern
Popular muppet-type pattern, Blue Boy (thank you Scribble for the updated link)
Mac and cheese (arm rod puppet) from Puppet Kaos
Bottle Monster (muppet-type using gloved human arms) from Puppet Kaos
John Kennedy’s teddy bear puppet, where you gut a teddy bear and add a moving mouth
Sheep puppet from Puppet Kaos

Why so few free puppet patterns? Find the answer here [link to be added]. Check out the list of materials and tools you need for building muppet-type puppets, read about what’s the difference between a muppet and a puppet, or my review of a book on making muppet-types.

This post AKA patterns for rod arm puppets, AKA human arm puppet pattern, AKA free talking puppet patterns, AKA free people puppet patterns, AKA template, AKA open mouth puppet pattern, AKA make simple mouth and rod puppet, AKA people puppet pattern

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16 comments

Patricia Mansfield said...

After a gap 30 years I am looking to make puppets again for my grandchildren. Unfortunately I seem to have lost my patterns which I had cherished for many years. It seems that they may have gone the way of so many things that I have put away "safely" and can no longer find. The dimensions of the pattern on this site are similar so I will see what I can do and let you know how it goes.
Many thanks
Pat Mansfield

17th December 2007 at 12:59

Angela Geaney said...

I would like the free puppet pattern and I am looking for more of the larger peppet patterns. Like the ones seen on TV.

8th January 2008 at 18:51

School of Puppetry said...

Angela,

Apologies for not replying sooner - you actually happened across a part of my site that is under construction, and I didn't see the comment until now.

You mention in your comment that you want to find some free puppet patterns, like those on TV. I'm not sure exactly what you mean (I live in Australia, so I'm not even sure what TV show you mean); but I'm guessing you'd like something similar to a muppet design? If so, there are a couple of patterns out there on the net, some of which you can find here:

http://www.schoolofpuppetry.com.au/tutorials.php/muppet-type-puppet-patterns-a-list

If you let me know specifically what kind of puppet you are looking to make, I could offer you some more advice.

18th January 2008 at 23:58

@Pat, I'm sad to hear that you've lost your puppet patterns; I hope you find them soon, and enjoy making them with/for your grandchildren. Do let me know how you went with the pattern, and if you get stuck, I'm happy to try and offer some advice.

19th January 2008 at 00:27

Thanks for getting back to me. I'm looking for Muppet type patterns plus hand puppets. I've tried to get pictures of the free pattern offered on the site you gave me but for some reason they don't come through. I must be doing something wrong

20th January 2008 at 17:52

Angela,

If you're looking for a muppet pattern - that's free - you can try the one at Puppeteers Unite

http://puppeteersunite.com/?p=568

which has images and instructions. Another popular free pattern/instruction set is on offer here:

http://members.aol.com/bocashouse/MG/BlueBoy.html

If you don't mind spending a little bit of money, I recommend you buy a pattern. They are usually far better than the freebies, because they come with pictures, diagrams, etc.

You might also want to check out the forums at Muppet Central (forum.muppetcentral.com), which offer a lot of advice on making your own muppets.

As for the hand puppets: the pattern I have for my cactus glove puppet is in a .pdf file, which means you need a special program on your computer to view it. You can download that program for free here:
http://www.adobe.com/products/reader/. If it still doesn't work, let me know.

You can also find more patterns and instructions here:

http://puppetbuilding.com/glove-puppets/

and here:

http://www.punchandjudy.com/dryadleaflet.htm

I hope that helps!

Have a great night,

20th January 2008 at 17:53

kanch said...

hey,
i teach (mould souls) and intersed in puppet making
i randomly came across ur blog

could u please help me by giving some tips

thanks
kanch

20th January 2008 at 17:59

Kanch,

Apologies for not getting back to you sooner; my website has been playing up and no comment notifications had been going through to me.

I'd be happy to give you some advice on puppet making - what kind of puppets are you thinking of creating? If you let me know, from there we can work out how best to start.

20th January 2008 at 18:01

sheila metcalf said...

want to make a puppet for my grandaughter. Love JACKS big music show. Can't find a pattern for the basic puppet. Please help, as she, and me, love the show. I have already found great fabric, but need basic help. thanks,

20th January 2008 at 18:26

Sheila,

Apologies for not replying sooner; my comment notification system hadn't been working for a while and I just managed to fix it.

I haven't seen Jacks Big Music Show before, but I took a look at their website, and from the looks of the puppets, I would guess that they are of a muppet-type design; an operatable mouth and hands with rods attached.

You won't find any patterns online - or anywhere else for that matter - to recreate the specific look of the Jacks puppets, because they would be heavily copyrighted. Having said that, you can always make similar looking puppets by learning how to make a muppet.

You can use the following patterns as a start:

http://puppeteersunite.com/?p=568

http://members.aol.com/bocashouse/MG/BlueBoy.html

or you could purchase a pattern here on this site.

Alternatively, why not just buy some of the Jacks merchandise, or commission a puppet-maker to create something for you? To create a puppet that is as similar as possible to the Jacks design will be hard for a novice; although with the above links you have a good chance of learning!

I hope that helps!

20th January 2008 at 18:27

Scribble said...

Just wanted to give you a link (courtesy of a web archive site) for the Blue Boy pattern: http://web.archive.org/web/19991006010035/http://members.aol.com/bocashouse/MG/BlueBoy.html Hope that helps!

30th April 2009 at 11:57

Thanks so much for the updated link Scribble. I've been trying to track it down, but that's the first time I've seen the pattern with images.

2nd May 2009 at 18:58

marla said...

I am the creator of the blue boy puppet patter, the original website has been shut down. The blue boy pattern can be found at http://web.archive.org/web/19991006010035/http://members.aol.com/bocashouse/MG/BlueBoy.html

8th November 2009 at 04:43

@Marla, Thanks for the updated info; I had already discovered the Archive.org link, but thanks anyway for sending it. I'm glad to see you're following it up, and have read posts about possible updates on the pattern via Puppets and Stuff - add my vote to the updates!

8th November 2009 at 13:27

Francien Broodryk said...

please, please! i want to make big mouth puppets to do ministrywork in Madagascar! can u help me with it?

13th April 2010 at 06:09

@Francien, You are probably referring to making a muppet-type puppet. There is a lot of info out there for making them, but I recommend you start with the free patterns here:

http://www.schoolofpuppetry.com.au/tutorials.php/muppet-type-puppet-patterns-a-list

or you can head to Puppetsandstuff.com and look for any number of useful forum posts on how to make them. They have videos, a few free patterns listed, along with lots of tips and hints. From there, I recommend you purchase a book (The Foam Book is excellent, you can find it at Amazon) or pattern. Really the free patterns that are online aren't anywhere near as good as the patterns available at sites like Projectpuppet.com and (in blatant advertising) my own. The patterns are very much step-by-step with print-outs and photos, whereas the freebies tend to be very much harder to follow. Other than that, I'm afraid I can't help further without knowing more specifics about what you want to know about making them.

14th April 2010 at 17:34