First have children paint one tip of their popsicle stick, a little bit of black for the boots of the soldier.

Then paint the remaining popsicle stick a shade of tan or green, for the "body/uniform" of the soldier. Just make sure you leave a little bit of the popsicle stick blank for his neck and head.

Once done painting, set aside to let it dry.

Next up - grab your colored cardstock and scissors.

Cut out a large circle for the head out of some tan cardstock.

Go ahead and also cut out a half-circle shaped helmet from some black.

Glue those together, as well as the wiggle eyes in place.

Finish off with a painted on smile.

To finish, glue your "head" cardstock piece to the popsicle stick.

Cut out a "belt" from the remaining black cardstock and glue it to the center of the popsicle stick.

Then have children wrap/bend a single pipe cleaner a few times around the center of the popsicle sticks to resemble arms. Bend them to "salute."

At this point children can also add other embellishments {like scrapbook stickers, glitter, rhinestones} that they see fit to really make it their own.

Then display/play with your wooden soldier puppets proudly for all to see!!