Flashlight Shadow Puppet Theater

What you need

• Flashlight, 1
• Paper, a few sheets
• Painter's tape, a few strips
• Kid scissors, 1 pair
• Straws, 3 (optional)

How to do it

Grown-up prep: Choose a room with a blank, light-colored wall. Before the lights go off, clear toys and cords off the floor so nobody trips or bumps into anything in the dark. Check that the flashlight works. For younger kids, plan to do the paper cutting yourself.

1. Draw three simple characters on paper, like a cat, a tree, or a rocket.
2. Cut out your shapes. Ask a grown-up to help if you need it. Ask for help if you need it
3. Tape each shape to a paper stick to make a puppet.
4. Clear the floor, then turn off the lights and close the curtains.
5. Stand about six feet back from a blank wall and shine the flashlight at it.
   Ask: What happens to the light circle when you step closer or farther away?
6. Put your hands in the beam and make a dog, a bird, or a rabbit.
7. Hold a puppet near the flashlight, then near the wall.
   Ask: When is your puppet a giant, and when is it tiny?
8. Make up a short story starring your three characters, with a beginning, middle, and end.
9. Perform your show while a helper holds the flashlight steady. Take a bow!
10. Now invite friends to watch, or make more puppets! What new story will you tell?
    Ask: Which new character would you add to your next show?

Play it again

• Guess the shadow: one person makes a hand shadow and everyone else guesses the animal.
• Silent show: tell a whole story with no words, only moving shadows and funny sounds.
• Giant and tiny: your puppet must grow huge, shrink small, and grow huge again during the story.