Dancing puppet can put on a show

— A piece of cardboard cut into thirteen

1 1/2-inch-wide strips: four 10-inch pieces,

Four 5-inch pieces, one 4-inch piece, and four 3 1/2-inch pieces

— Construction paper

— Pencil

— Scissors

— Hole punch

— 1-inch-capacity brads

— Glue

— 6-inch piece of string

WHAT TO DO

1. Paint one side of each cardboard piece black; let dry. Trace the robot-face template (you can download it at familyfunmag.com/printables) onto construction paper and cut out; fold as directed.

2. Following the template, punch holes in the cardboard pieces and connect the face and cardboard pieces with brads. Score the 4-inch piece of cardboard into sections, then fold it into a T and glue to the back of the puppet; let dry.

3. Tie the string to the bottom-most brad. Hold the puppet by the handle and pull on the string to get the arms and legs moving.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Each brad acts as a fulcrum, creating a pivot point for the pieces of cardboard it’s connecting. But because each piece of cardboard attaches to another one, the pressure (effort) you apply to the first one is transferred to the rest, making everything move at once.