Make a Shadow-Box Puppet Theater

Cut your flat shadow puppets using black poster board and
scissors. Then mount these onto sticks.

       Kids can make a shadow box puppet theater in under an hour and perform all kinds of antics by the afternoon. This activity works even better on gloomy rainy days; a wonderful camp craft on a day when the weather is not cooperating with the best made plans...

Supply List For Puppets and Shadow Box Theater:

• a sturdy cardboard box 
• black acrylic paint
• white school for decoupaging papers
• black paper or fabric lace
• black and white decorative paper
• color decorative paper alternative in just in case you want to use it instead of the black and white
• a pair of sharp scissors or an Exacto knife (Adults or teens should only be entrusted with the sharp blade!)
• kitchen parchment paper (alternative might be a white cut-up sheet)
• very sticky masking tape
• wooden craft sticks or chop sticks for the puppets
• black poster paper to cut the puppets from
• templates or patterns for puppets located here in a listing...
• a lamp or flashlight light source to place behind the puppet screen

Above, a small but sturdy mini puppet theater for our 18" dolls to watch our Summer Camp
performances. I removed both the front and back walls before painting the little theater.
Use a ruler and magic marker to measure where to cut out the front of the theater first.

Left the sids have been removed from our box theater. Center, the cardboard box "frame" is painted 
black and the floor at the bottom of the theater is covered with black and white faux wooden 
paper. The parchment paper is has also been taped in place. Right, I decoupaged a larger box
with similar proportions in it's interior with decorative paper. I keep the shadow box inside
of the larger box to protect it when it is not being played with. Otherwise the parchment
screen might get poked through!

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Your shadow box theater can be any size you like. We made our very small so that our dolls could pretend to put on a shadow theater production for each other.  Once you have the box for your theater, cut away both the front and the back sides so that only the "frame" part of the box is left to work with.
2. Paint the frame with black, quick drying acrylic paints. 
3. Then glue paper lace or regular black lace across the top inside part of the theater. This creates a fancy looking theater "curtain" for any stage set. 
4. Use the cardboard that was removed previously to make a stage floor. The floor will need several layers of cardboard to make it a bit heavier and therefore making the stage stand alone without needing to prop it upright.
5. Decoupage the floor by coating the cardboard with an even application of white school glue and applying the paper slowly as to remove air pockets and creases.
6. Now measure the opening of the stage front and cut a generous piece of kitchen parchment paper to cover the opening. 
7. Tape this securely from the interior frame walls using masking tape. 
8. Now make your puppets by printing out templates from our Thrifty Scissors blog or draw them yourself. These should be cut from black poster paper in silhouette shapes.
9. Mount the shadow puppets onto long sticks at one end using a bit of tape or glue. 
10. Set up a light source using a lamp or flashlight positioned either behind or off to the side of the theater screen. You will see the best advantage for this light source once the overhead lights of a room are turned off. It takes a little adjustment at first to know where to put this light source.

First  page by Jean Stanley, illustrated by Johnny Gruelle.

Second page by Jean Stanley, illustrated by Johnny Gruelle.

Funny Fellows on The Wall

When I go to bed at night,

Mother turns out every light

But one bright one in the hall

To make shadows on the wall

Mothers always know a way

For a happy bedtime play,

Mother's hands can make them all,

Funny fellers on the wall.

First there comes a big giraffe

And he always makes me laugh

As he walks across the wall,

He's so awkward and so tall.

Next a squirrel in a tree

Easts his nuts most eagerly.

Then a donkey, ears and all,

Nods at me there, on the wall.

Rabbits, too, will jump around,

Sit up straight at every sound.

I love bunnies best of all

Funny fellers on the wall.

Once a goose with funny head

Hissed right at me, here in bed.

He was cross and tried to run,

Oh, it was a lot of fun.

When you go to bed sometime,

Have your mother leave a light

Burning brightly in the hall,

To make shadows on the wall.

Poem by Jean Stanley.

Illustrated by Johnny Gruelle.

More About Shadow Puppets:

• History behind shadow puppets, marionettes and Punch too!
• Black Cherry Puppet Theater shows kids how to make a simple shadow box theater for play
• Biography for Charlotte "Lotte" Reiniger
• My GIANT collection of silhouette patterns that children may download and use to make their own paper shadow puppets
• Making shadow puppet theatres with Ms. Boley at her internet art room
• Creating a shadow show by Macedon Ranges Shire Council
• "The Gingerbread Man" shadow puppet theatre
• Puppets for "The Legend of Sleepy Hallow" by Historic Hudson Valley and illustrator David Hyde Costello