Seems to me that the papier-mache heads would be rather heavy for small hands to maneuver if the puppets are glove-type puppets. However, if the head were to be mounted on a rod, with a loose cloth body attached to the head, then the child could hold the rod and work the puppet that way. Also, if the loose cloth body includes a hand mounted on another rod, then the child could hold a rod in each hand and give the puppet a bit more animation that way. (The other hand, of course, would have to hang loose from the body, or be mounted on still another rod that a second puppeteer would maneuver, just as the Sesame Street Muppets are maneuvered.)

But for simplicity, maneuverability and just plain fun, give me a sock puppet any day. They can be made into all sorts of animals -- real and imaginary -- and kids love animals!

I remember that, when I was a kid, my older brothers made doll-puppets for me. They used a sock for the head, stuffed with other socks, with buttons sewn on for eyes and yarn glued on for hair. They created facial features by pinching the socks and sewing the pinches. Each head was sewn onto one of my mother's old gloves for the body, and the glove was "dressed" in crudely-sewn fabric "clothes". There were three puppets in all, and I still have them and cherish them half a century later.

Don't forget paper-bag puppets for a quick, easy project. Use small lunch bags, turn the folded-over part into a mouth, and glue on your choice of construction paper, google-eyes, doll's hair, etc. They can be colored with crayon or painted with tempera paints, too.