Spring Puppet Theater

We've been playing with lots of puppets around our house lately! My little girl really gets into it. I had these characters already created so I thought it would be fun to bring them to life as little finger puppets. Below is the outcome! If you'd like to create your own spring puppet theater, I've included a jpg below for printing & some loose instructions.

YOU WILL NEED

1. printer for printing

2. heavyweight paper

3. scissors

4. sticks

5. yarn or string 

6. box

7. tape

INSTRUCTIONS

I printed out the 8.5 x 11 sheet attached. Next, I colored my characters and the other pieces bright and happy colors. Once finished with the coloring, I cut them out. You don't have to use all of the pieces but I tend to overdue it, so I strung everything up at once! There are holes that need to be cut out of the characters for your fingers to go into for movement. I used an x-acto knife, but if you don't have one of those, you could try to use your scissors. Next, I cut a hole in each side of the pieces that i planned on hanging with my yarn. 

Now you're ready to start putting your theater together! I found a shoebox to use and then added some paper to the top of mine for a change of color. Toward the back of the box, cut an X on each side and then insert your sticks. I wanted 3 rows for hanging my background so i cut three pieces of yarn that were about double what I actually needed. You can create as you desire, but my next step was to tie one piece of yarn to the stick that you see on the left, string on "happy" and "the sunshine" and then I tied off the yarn on the side you see on the right at the point that it was hanging like I wanted it to. It will take a little finessing to get it to the look you desire, and in the end, I actually needed tape to hold my sticks right where I wanted them inside of the box! Be sure to leave room for your hands to get onto the stage and perform. I added the flowers last. To hold them in place, you can fold the bottoms in about 1/4" and then tape them down. And now you're ready for your first performance!

I would love to see any theaters created out there in the world so please feel free to share! 

Happy Creating!

and 

Happy Spring!

xo! julz