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Make a shadow puppet theatre

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How to make
Find a large cardboard box. Cut a rectangle out of one side. Stick a sheet of baking parchment or strong tracing paper behind the hole. Place the box on its side with the ‘screen’ facing out. Cut off any extra flaps and enough of the top so that children can position puppets.

Make silhouette puppets from black or dark paper or card if possible, or if using white paper you can colour your silhouettes black. These could be based on a favourite story or be a completely new creation. Tape each puppet onto a lolly stick.

Use a torch or angle poise lamp and direct the light behind the screen. Experiment with your puppets to see how close or far away they need to be so that they are in focus. Top right photo is from Indonesian shadow puppet tradition. 

Your show

Rehearse your puppet show. What is going to happen in your play? What will your characters say, what will they do?

This works best of all if you take part if you have one child involved or help children if you have more than one.

Now you need an audience for your puppet show – or if not set up a camera to record the show and send to friends or relations.

See this cbeebies clip for more information on making a shadow puppet theatre.