Folkmanis Puppets

FOLKMANIS® believes imagination is the key to a healthy childhood, encouraging play and discovery to develop the skills necessary in life. The company has been making the most innovative and engaging specialty puppets in the world since 1976, delighting imaginations and winning nearly every industry, child development, and kid-tested award – many repeatedly.

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Folkmanis Puppets - Red SquirrelCloser Look$30.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - Silky Bunny RabbitCloser Look$40.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - Mini SharkCloser Look$11.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - Mini Sitting BearCloser Look$12.50

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Folkmanis Puppets - Mini Black CatCloser Look$10.49

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Folkmanis Puppets - Closer Look$19.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - Mini Winged PigletCloser Look$8.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - Valais Blacknose SheepCloser Look$40.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - Orchid MantisCloser Look$38.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - Baby ChimpanzeeCloser Look$38.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - DucklingCloser Look$27.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - FerretCloser Look$37.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - KiwiCloser Look$26.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - Horned LizardCloser Look$35.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - Mini Wood DuckCloser Look$9.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - Wildcat KittenCloser Look$32.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - Baby Black BearCloser Look$24.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - Mini ChickCloser Look$9.49

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Folkmanis Puppets - Mini DragonCloser Look$16.49

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Folkmanis Puppets - Mini Sitting FrogCloser Look$9.49

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Folkmanis Puppets - Mini SnailCloser Look$8.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - Jack RabbitCloser Look$52.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - Phoenix WristletCloser Look$27.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - Mini CoyoteCloser Look$11.49

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Folkmanis Puppets - Mini DragonflyCloser Look$12.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - Mini BobcatCloser Look$12.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - Small LambCloser Look$26.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - Mini HamsterCloser Look$9.49

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Folkmanis Puppets - Mini MonkeyCloser Look$10.49

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Folkmanis Puppets - Mini RavenCloser Look$11.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - GoatCloser Look$45.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - Small CoyoteCloser Look$22.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - PorcupineCloser Look$25.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - ChipmunkCloser Look$28.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - Tuxedo KittenCloser Look$21.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - Cottontail RabbitCloser Look$38.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - Ground HogCloser Look$28.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - Orange Tabby KittenCloser Look$24.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - Mini HummingbirdCloser Look$10.00

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Folkmanis Puppets - Mini BluebirdCloser Look$11.49

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Folkmanis Puppets - Bob CatCloser Look$22.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - Mini CardinalCloser Look$11.49

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Folkmanis Puppets - Honey BeeCloser Look$20.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - Bleating SheepCloser Look$46.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - Jack Russell TerrierCloser Look$35.00

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Folkmanis Puppets - Pack RatCloser Look$38.99

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Folkmanis Puppets - Gray SquirrelCloser Look$40.00

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Folkmanis Puppets - BeaverCloser Look$34.00

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Folkmanis Puppets - Polar Bear CubCloser Look$38.00

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About Folkmanis Puppets

Folkmanis® Puppets are the expression of Judy Folkmanis’ active imagination, sewing wizardry, and love of nature. Judy started the company as a “cottage industry” business in Watertown, MA., in the late 1960’s.  She nurtured it among the street vendors lining Berkeley’s famed Telegraph Avenue, 

Creating her first animal puppets to entertain her own children, Judy was astounded when her unsung, but cuddly, creations began attracting a growing group of paying customers. Most often these were other parents who sought high play value from their toy purchases and an appreciation of the natural world for their children.

Joined in the burgeoning endeavor in 1976 by her Ph.D. husband Atis—who happily abandoned a career in biochemistry for pattern-cutting—the couple realized that launching a menagerie of carefully detailed and realistic animal puppets was their “right livelihood.” They hired several seamstresses and never looked back. The rest, as they say, is toy industry history – as Folkmanis’ line and renown grew by leaps and bounds.

Folkmanis Puppets Today

Still headquartered in Emeryville, California, today Folkmanis, Inc. has grown to become the premier manufacturer of plush puppets worldwide. Folkmanis® Puppets offers over 200 of the most heartwarming and realistically designed creatures—both exotic and familiar—on the market today. After more than 35 years, Folkmanis, Inc. is still a family business. Judy and Atis oversee both the creative and operations sides to ensure that the quality and love of the natural world they wish to convey through their toys remains true to their original vision.

Judy & Atis Folkmanis

“The success that Folkmanis Puppets has enjoyed for more than 35 years simply reinforces the fact that when it comes to children, old-fashioned, open-ended play patterns are the best, and the simplest toys are really the healthiest gifts one can buy for a child,” says Elaine Kollias, marketing director.

“That is why puppets are so firmly in the ‘good toy’ category – not just that they encourage and inspire imaginative play, but that they represent a thoughtful and fun gift that is more than ‘just’ a toy.”

Widely regarded as the most innovative puppet-maker in the world, Folkmanis® Puppets consistently designs beautifully crafted toys that inspire creativity, promote hands-on discovery, encourage interaction, teach fine and gross motor skills, help develop early language, and become a child’s lovable companion to be treasured for years.

The company’s line includes a virtual menagerie of plush pets and friendly wildlife friends with new designs constantly on the drawing board.

Folkmanis Puppets at Weaving in Beauty

Folkmanis Puppets Shoe Game

Our Folkmanis Puppets play the Navajo Shoe Game.

We love carrying the Folkmanis line of puppets!  Younger and young-at-heart visitors enjoy them. 

We set up a yearly version of the Navajo Shoe Game with our puppets that you are welcome to visit between November 1st  and February 14th.  We’ll be glad to explain the significance of the Shoe Game.  Please note that some of our Shoe Game participants are “retired” puppets and those aren’t for sale.  

Snakes and reptiles are regarded with respect and caution in Navajo culture and are not handled under any circumstances. As a result, there are some Folkmanis puppets that we do not carry.  These include

  • Rattlesnakes and other snake puppets
  • Dragons with scales
  • Alligators
  • Lizards

The Folkmanis website will direct you to retailers who carry these puppets if they strike your fancy!

 

 

 

 

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