Make it at Home Monday: Alice the Camel Brown Bag Puppet

It's Monday and we're still learning and playing about Israel in honor of Yom Ha'atzmaut. We've recently renewed our family membership to our local zoo. One of my son's favorite attractions there are the camels, an animal native to the desert climate of Israel! He loves to sing the popular children's song/action rhyme, "Alice the Camel," a cute little ditty that demonstrates counting backward with a humorous surprise at the end:

Alice the Camel
Alice the camel has five humps,
Alice the camel has five humps,
Alice the camel has five humps,
So go, Alice, go!

Alice the camel has four humps...[continue in this fashion, you can also use your fingers as you count backward]

Alice the camel has no humps,
Alice the camel has humps,
Alice the camel has no humps
Now Alice is a horse!

If you have a group of children with you, grab a large sheet and you can act out the song with children as "humps" who take turns moving to the front as they are counted "out" to be the head. This was a favorite activity in my classroom teaching days!

Alternatively, you can make your very own Alice the Camel brown bag puppet to use as you sing. 

You Will Need:
a brown paper lunch bag
a google eye
brown construction paper
scissors
glue
markers, crayons and anything else you'd like to add for decorating

Instructions:

1. Trace or copy the shape of a camel to brown construction paper. If you do not have brown construction paper, you can use white paper and color your camel or you can use another brown paper bag. If free-handing a camel silhouette is not your strong suit (it's not mine!) you may want to use an image printed from the internet or a stencil. Older crafters can assist with this step and cut out the camel shape. For younger crafters or those who are short on time, you may wish to prep the camel in advance. 
2. Glue your camel to the rectangular bottom flap of the brown paper bag so that when you insert your hand into the bag, you can flap your camel up and down. Glue on the eye and decorate your camel as you like. You may wish to draw on a mouth or other details. My little artist even enjoyed decorating the bag!
3. Once dry, use your puppet to sing "Alice the Camel" or put on a puppet show!