Make memories with family puppets during the holidays!

silhouette puppets of family gathering with three people talking, a cat, and a man holding up a child

If you think that shadow puppets can only be used for shadow puppetry, you are wrong! Among the many puppets with patterns in our Printable Library I have used the puppets above not only in

Puppet of Rosa Parks sitting next to Rosa Parks in bus

How to

Historical puppets for language arts

January 24, 2023April 10, 2023

Many posts on this site have been about using silhouette puppets to engage with history by acting out stories. However, they can also be great for language arts, allowing students to interact with a historical

Bible stories

Cardboard creche

December 24, 2022December 25, 2022

In the weeks leading up to Christmas I have shown how to use corrugated cardboard for a Nativity display stand and stop motion films. In this post I am sharing instructions how to make a

Silhouette puppets showing a man holding the reigns of a horse, which pulls a covered wagon with a woman on the front seat holding a little child.

American history

Local history tableaus

October 5, 2022February 3, 2023

There are 22 places in the United States that are called Lawrence. But only one of them got that name because the original one, Maidenhead, was thought to be too embarrassing for ladies. On the

Greek mythology

How to act out Heracles’ labors using your own imagination

October 23, 2020October 29, 2020

In our post about acting out Greek myths we have touched upon the heroes Perseus and Theseus. The most popular hero however (as seen in Greek art) was Heracles, often known for his Roman name Hercules.

two screens in the shape of Greek pots with shadow puppets of Greek gods and goddesses

Greek mythology

Making a pot-shaped screen

September 10, 2020September 11, 2020

One of my most-read blog posts is about using an overhead projector for shadow puppetry, which is full of fun tricks that may be used when teaching Greek myths in the classroom. But you don’t

Silhouette puppet of a wolf with movable jaw, front and back

How to

How to make puppet rods with duct or painters tape

March 23, 2020March 24, 2020

In this instructional video I am showing you how to make a silhouette or shadow puppet using a cheap and sturdy alternative for rods that are attached to the puppets with velcro. The instructions are

Small shadow puppets holding hands and embracing with wedding cake

Family history

How to make a wedding cake topper using profile silhouettes

August 21, 2019February 19, 2023

This summer my Dutch-American daughter Sara married the love of her life in a Dutch little castle close to where Ken grew up. Having helped out with shadow puppetry workshops since she was young, Sara

Children seen on the back acting out a shadow puppetry scene with transparent scrolling background

How to

Adding a scrolling background to a shadow puppetry screen

June 3, 2019February 5, 2020

In the days when I worked with an overhead projector for shadow puppetry, I used transparent film on a rolling rack to have a moving background for travel. I truly missed this possibility when I starting to

Family history