Family Talk APRIL 2016 Barbara Ames—Family & Consumer Science Agent www.wildcatdistrict.ksu.edu facebook.com/wildcat.extension.district Looking for easy-peasy fun? Wiggle your fingers inside a sock for an almost-instant puppet or crayon a face on a paper lunch bag. Or try something more sophisticated like a marionette—perhaps with something as simple as cardboard and string. First, some quick ideas, for both kids and adults to make: **Turn the fingers of a glove into puppets with faces you make with a marker, yarn and maybe even a pair of wiggle-eye stick- ers or buttons. **Poke a finger hole in an old tennis or sponge ball and glue on facial features and a fabric scrap for a gown. **Take a square of light-colored fabric, rubber band it over a toilet tissue tube and add yarn hair, button eyes, a pompon nose and a heart-shaped mouth. **If you’re game for something more com- plicated, cut arms, legs, a head and torso from cardboard, connect the joints with paper fasteners and add strings to the arms and legs for a marionette. Or sculpt a head with papier mache and attach it to a simple body of cloth or felt. **Simplest of all? Draw eyes on a finger and turn it into a character! Rather look at puppets others have made? The Puppeteers of America maintain a list of puppet museums at https:// www.puppeteers.org/discover-puppetry/ museums-and-collections/. Or visit an online museum via the Smithsonian’s puppet exhibit at http://americanhistory.si.edu/puppetry. Find directions for this puppet at http:// www.pbs.org/parents/peg/ peg-cat-stick-puppets/ Reprinted with permission from Paren ng Press News for Parents, copyright © 2016. For a compli- mentary subscrip on, see www.Paren ngPress.com/ Fun with Puppets Getting the Facts About Food Are there days when you feel bombarded with messages related to food? Ever wonder if those if those messages are fact or fic on? To help clear the muddy messages, the In- s tute of Food Technologists (IFT) has launched a new Food Facts website for con- sumers. The resource features videos and fact sheets about food science for consum- ers. IFT member experts answer ques ons, address food myths and misconcep ons, and talk about many topics within food sci- ence such as food safety, nutri on food chemistry and more. Check out this resource at: h p:// www.i .org/knowledge-center/learn-about -food-science/food-facts.aspx