Make your own puppet theatre
Transform a cardboard box into a puppet theatre with your children and they'll have hours of fun putting on their own shows
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What you need
Cardboard box • Sticky tape • Wrapping paper • PVA glue • Coloured paper • Felt-tip pens • 1.9cm hooks • Piece of thin wooden doweling (available from hardware stores) • Two pieces of fabric (such as hankies, dyed) • Puppet templates (within PDF, downloadable below) • Lolly sticks
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Step 1
Open out the box so that all of the panels are pulled out. On one side, trim down the two side panels, making them about 10cm wide and two thirds of the length of the side of the box. Leave 4cm of the top panel, fold this back on itself and secure it with tape to ensure it stays upright – this will be for the theatre curtain.
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Step 2
Fold the bottom panel over itself, towards the centre of the box. Cut off the excess to make a narrow ‘stage’ about 3cm wide. At the back of the box, remove the top and bottom panels. Tape over all corners and edges to make them secure and cover the whole thing in wrapping paper.
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Step 3
Make balconies using coloured paper and felt tips.
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Step 4
Make the audience's faces using paper and felt tips and stick them onto the balconies. Stick the balconies onto the side panels.
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Step 5
Add two hooks, one at each end of the top panel. Cut the wood doweling so that it measures the width of the box.
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Step 6
Cut two rectangular panels of fabric to the same width as the box. Make slits spaced out 1.5cm apart along top of each curtain. Thread the wood doweling through each curtain, then place the curtain rail on to the hooks.
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Step 7
Make your own puppets using the templates provided. Simply download and print the PDF below — the templates are on the second page. Colour them in, cut them out and stick them to the lolly sticks.
Alternatively, download our PDF instructions to print out and follow in your own time.
To open this document you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader
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