Shadow Puppets and Plays

Entertaining and simple to make, your preschooler will love creating stories and plays with these unique puppets.

Materials:

• Poster board
• Brass paper fasteners
• Glue and tape
• Scissors
• Pencil, markers
• Drinking strays, popsicle sticks, thin dowels
• Paper
• Paper hole punch
• Pipe cleaners
• White cloth (sheet)
• Lamp or flashlight
• Optional: Wool, string, foam shapes, feathers

Puppets

Have your child draw the outline of a character onto a white piece of paper. Once completed, cut it out.

Trace the character onto a sturdy piece poster board and cut it out.

Experiment with texture and shape by gluing features to the puppet (hair, nose, hat, cane) and using an assortment of materials.

Tape/glue a straw or stick to the back of your puppet. The top of the stick should be about ¾ of the way up the puppet's back. Make sure it's long enough to allow a handle.

To make a jointed puppet, chose the parts of the puppet you want to move (elbows, hips, knees, etc). Trace these parts onto additional pieces of cardboard, making them slightly longer than needed.  Next, CUT the corresponding parts away from the original puppet. Overlap the new part onto the puppet's body. Punch a small hole in both and attach the two pieces with a brass paper fastener. Tape/glue another stick to the moveable part. Repeat process for each movable joint.

Puppet Theatre

Make two folds in a large piece of poster board - about 9" in from either end. This will enable the theatre to stand on its own.

Cut a large window from the centre panel of the theatre.

Cut and fit a white sheet on the inside of the window. Stretch the sheet so that there are no wrinkles and tape/glue it to the window.

Decorate the outside of the theatre.

Shadow Plays

Stand the theatre on a table and place a light source (lamp, flashlight) a few feet behind the stage.

Performers stand between the light source and the stage, holding puppets up in front to the screen.

For more on shadow puppets, check out Making Shadow Puppets, by Catherine Heard and Jill Bryant, published by Kids Can Press. 

By Rochelle Strauss