What would your kids say to a Halloween decor craft you can play with? They’ll have a blast turning pasta and pipe cleaners into this easy-to-make skeleton puppet!

What You Need

• 10 macaroni (pasta)
• 2 pipe cleaners, white, 12 inch (30 cm)
• 1 wooden bead, 1 inch (25 mm), round or olive-shaped
• 5 to 8 small wooden beads
• 1 chopstick
• For the back bone: medium elastic cord, white, 8 inches (20 cm)
• For the puppet string: thread or thin elastic cord, black, 25 inches (65 cm)
• Marker, black permanent
• Optional: glow-in-the-dark paint

Step 1
Bend the pipe cleaners in half and layout the pasta, beads, and white elastic cord for the back bone.

Step 2
Add the macaroni and small beads to the pipe cleaners and bend the cleaners at the ends. Knot the cord to the legs and add two macaroni.

Knot the arms and add the big bead for the head, then add the small one at the top. Make a knot and draw a skeleton face with the marker as shown.

Note: For flabby arms, use necklace-thread and two small beads instead of the pipe cleaner.

Step 4
Lay the chopstick a bit above the puppet and measure the string for the head and arms: 1 string should be 6 inches (15 cm) long and 2 should be 10 inches (25cm) long. Make an easy-to-undo knot and try to move the puppet. You may have to shorten or lengthen the strings. Fix them on the chopstick with tape if necessary.

Your skeleton puppet is ready! Let the skeleton puppet dance or hold the feet and stretch a bit. Have Fun!

It’s an easy-to-make and play with string puppet for younger kids. But if you’re already a master puppeteer, use two chopsticks crosswise. Add ribs or skeleton fingers made from pasta or cardboard.

Optional: Paint the skeleton puppet with glow-in-the-dark paint and have a spooky dance in the dark.

BOO!