One can only draw so many pictures. So exercise your creativity by coming up with some characters and storylines...Then make a shadow puppet theatre where you and the kids can act out your fairytale!

Detailed shadow puppets are intricate, delicate and quite beautiful (and expensive). But creating your own puppets is fun and simple, and the perfect way to spend an afternoon indoors.

 

Materials:

  •  
    • Cardboard box
    • Q-tips or Popsicle sticks
    • Construction paper
    • White paper
    • Ruler
    • Scissors
    • Adhesive tape

Shadow puppet theatre

Process:

1. First make the puppet theatre. Cut out a rectangular window in your box. Then, glue a sheet of white paper to the cut-out area. Attach decorative elements to the theatre.


2. Create your shadow puppets. Simple shapes work best: an animal, a person, a house, a car. Once the basic shape of your puppet is cut out, continue creating more details, like adding whiskers to your cat, or a door and windows to your house.


3.  Attach a Q-tip or Popsicle stick to the back of the puppets.

4.  Showtime! Place your theatre in front of a light source (a lamp, bright window, or flashlight) and animate your puppets behind the white sheet of paper.

Tips:

  •  
    • Start the process with an idea for your puppet theatre — a story and characters.
    • Most shadow puppets are made out of card stock or bristol board, but those can be difficult to work with. Instead, try construction paper.
    • An X-Acto knife helps with tiny details.

Shadow puppet theatre

Photos by Catherine Romano.