Master Class. Do-it-yourself shadow theater

Good afternoon guests and readers of the blog! Today I again want to touch on the topic of how and how to lure a child at home. This topic is very close to me, because I have two children at home. that require attention and care.

In the previous article, I told you about didactic games with your favorite characters from "Paw Patrol". For those who missed this episode, read here.

Today I want to offer another version of the game at home, this is a puppet theater. Of course, you can take your child to a real puppet theater, or you can create one at home.

Therefore, I will share with you some thoughts, developments to make such a miracle.

We'll need: your desire and a little free time 🙂

To be honest, we have different types of theaters at home, for example this wood.

My kids love it very much, because it's so funny and exciting when I show them a fairy tale, and they sit and listen. Now I have an older son, he can show and tell fairy tales himself. Just think, it's very cool, because the child, while playing, learns to retell his favorite fairy tale, build a dialogue, etc.

I think that all preschool children, as well as most children of primary school age, will not remain indifferent to such theaters. And if you come up with fairy tales with a funny plot and an intriguing ending, then in general you can get a real holiday for a child.

The easiest version of a do-it-yourself puppet theater is paper. It is easy to make your own. Well, or together with the child.

DIY paper finger puppet theater, patterns

Paper finger puppet theater, kids really like it, it lures them, and also develops fine motor skills of hands. Look here.

The first option is a flat round finger theater. You need to make the head and the upper part of the doll, dress on the finger with a paper ring or you can make cones.

Create such dolls together with your child, start with character templates. Download them on my website by writing me a comment below, I will be happy to send you templates, print and have fun playing.

After all, the finger puppet theater is a whole magical art in which children learn about the world around them. Any child will like to be in the role of an artist, and this helps to believe in themselves and achieve success in the future. It is also a good material for the development of such processes in children as imagination, thinking, as well as the development of fine motor skills and much more.

A finger theater can be made from any materials at hand, such as paper, fabric, cardboard, corks, threads, cups, etc.

DIY desktop paper theater, templates

I show my children, here is such a desktop paper theater, which I made very quickly.

We will need:

• cups from Rastishka, illustrations, ice cream sticks

Stages of work:

1. Take any illustrations and cut out all the characters in the fairy tale along the contour.

3. Glue ice cream sticks on each fairy tale character.

4. Now take the cups and make a horizontal hole at the top of each cup with a clerical knife.

5. Well, now insert the wand with the hero into the cup. Look how cute it turned out. Very easy and simple, no worse than buying in a store.

Ice cream sticks can be replaced with plastic forks or spoons.

If you do not want to take illustrations from books, then you can find characters from any fairy tales on the Internet, save them, and then print them, and then cut them out and stick them on sticks. You can download from my site such ready-made templates of heroes for such fairy tales: Kolobok, Teremok, Turnip, Bunny hut, just write a comment or review below, and I will send it to you by mail.

Paper puppet theater "Walkers"

Such a theater is very popular with young children; for such a theater, favorite characters and a couple of holes are needed.

Believe me, children will be happy to play such games.

And if you invite friends to visit, then it will be even more fun to play.

You will also receive samples of walkers of your favorite heroes to your e-mail address.

Desktop paper theater on plastic cups, corks, cubes

This option is also very easy to make, you can even draw the characters yourself or find and cut out, and then stick them on corks or cubes. Everything is ingeniously simple.

And how do you like this idea? All children love Kinder Surprise, and all of them have small containers left from them that you can pay to such a theater.

DIY glove doll

In fact, puppet theaters can be built a lot. Even at almost no cost. You just need to turn on the ingenuity and do it! You can sew for example.

And you can learn to knit and knit such cute characters:

I honestly used to knit well, now there is not enough time for all this. But I never liked sewing. But, also as an option, you can sew such a theater, who loves this business.

Although here is the simplest master for you - a class on sewing a puppet theater from fabric using gloves. Anyone can do it, even those who do not know the art of sewing.

We will need:

• household gloves, knitted - 2 pcs., buttons for the eyes - 2 pcs., threads, scissors, braid, stationery knife

Stages of work:

1. Take the first glove and steam out the thread-seam on the cuff, usually it is red or yellow. Tuck in the little finger, thumb and forefinger so that they do not come out, sew them up. You should end up with a head with ears and a bunny neck. Sew up the bases at the ears so that the fingers do not get there.

2. Now take the next glove and hide the ring finger in it, sew up the hole. Connect the middle and index fingers together and now put the hare's head on them.

3. Sew the head to the neck. To hide the seam at the neck, tie a bow or tie in the form of a butterfly. Sew on button eyes and embroider a muzzle, or you can draw with a marker. From a fluff or knitted threads, you can decorate a hare by gluing a cute cap on his head. 😯

In this way, other toys can be made, such as a dog, parsley, etc.

I have a son, in general he loves such a simple glove, he will put it on and walk around making up all sorts of stories with the characters 🙂

Here is such a short article turned out for today. I think who of you has small children, you are happy to diversify their leisure time. Choose any kind of theater, do it with your child. And then enjoy a good mood and positive. After all, all joint work strengthens your relationship! And the child will only be happy and glad from this, and will definitely tell you: “Mommy, how I love you!” The most magical words in the world.

Well, I say goodbye to you today. See you again.

P.S. Do you know what is very important?! It is in the home puppet theater that you can watch the child, his behavior. Because the baby can think of something, speak out, and we adults should still listen to what the child is talking about, what conversations he is talking about.

Under the shadow theater for children is usually understood not only the theater with puppets, but also the images of the shadows of animals with the help of hands. Parents can impress their child with animated pictures on the simplest wall.

History of shadow theater

Shadow theater is an art that originated many centuries ago. The richest and most eminent were fond of him, because the puppets were made by hand from fine, well-dressed camel skin. Openwork dolls, animals and birds, painted by masters in all colors of the rainbow, were expensive.

And only in the 17th century, the French realized that the mystery of the shadow theater, depicting unprecedented figures with their own hands, especially captures children, so this art has spread in just a couple of years in the form of a real role-playing game.

Do-it-yourself animal shadows

Organizing a shadow theater at home is as easy as shelling pears! There is nothing complicated in the shadows of animals, most often just two hands are enough to see a bunny, a dog or a bird.

So, how to make shadows with your own hands?

1. You will need a light wall or any large object hung with a white sheet;
2. Sunlight or light from a bright lamp should shine directly on the wall, and not from the side;
3. Approach the wall in such a way that your own shadow does not fall directly on the wall;
4. Fold your arms as shown in any of the drawings.

Do-it-yourself animal shadows can also be revived! Wiggle your fingers and your bunny will fold its ears and your bird will fly. Teach your child to draw the shadows of animals, this will develop the baby's motor skills and his spatial thinking.

The room is dim, only a table lamp shines brightly. It is worth raising your hands - and shadows appear on the wall. And if you fold your hands into bizarre shapes or move your fingers, the shadows come to life and turn into mysterious figures or animals. This truly fascinating process fascinates not only children, but also adults.

Indeed, in order to show children an unforgettable, vivid performance, it is not necessary to go to the theater. You can arrange a shadow theater for children at home. They take part in the preparation for the performance with great pleasure - they cut out dolls, make a scene, invent characters and scenarios, and enthusiastically depict figures of magical animals with their pens. All this is not only interesting, but also informative, and also useful. Adults spend time with children, while the guys develop their thinking, throw out their imagination, their inner perception of the world.

The development of hands is very useful for children, especially small ones. Shadow theater is exactly the kind of role-playing game that will help this process. The images that are produced on the wall only with the help of properly installed lighting and their own hands and fingers, delight children. After all, there is so much new in such a production as a shadow theater for children - an adult can show elementary movements with his own hands, seeing which, a child will be delighted and will definitely try to repeat these actions and even create his own. Successes, achievements of the baby in copying movements, animals will bring joy not only to him, but to everyone around him.

When the child has mastered the basic basics, you can make the process more interesting and exciting, for example, put on a whole performance, where the main role will be assigned to him and your hands, and the audience can be relatives and family friends.

Shadow theater with paper puppets

In order to make paper, there is no need to build any bulky equipment. It is enough to take a few electric lamps, thanks to their illumination, the shadows will be bright and clear, and a light sheet for the screen. In the absence of a sheet, a simple white wall will do.

Lamps should be installed so that they illuminate the screen well, while the rest of the room should be darkened. Spectators invited to the performance should be in twilight, and direct participants in the show should be between a well-lit screen and a light source. Now it's worth turning on the fantasy - and the world of shadows will come to life. For the realism of what is happening, you can adjust the size of the image, to increase the characters on the screen, you need to move the puppets away from the wall, and to reduce, on the contrary, bring them closer.

There is another way to make a do-it-yourself shadow theater for children - the fairy tale you invented will unfold on a real stage.
But this will require a little more preparation than was necessary for the previously voiced methods.

How to make a scene

Everyone determines the dimensions of the screen and side walls independently. But it is most convenient to play with about 50 by 50 cm and side walls - 50 by 30 cm. The resulting box must be tightened with paper, a specialized film for patterns is best suited, it is durable and does not shine through.

Silhouettes of pupae should be made from cardboard, with all moving parts such as arms, legs and head cut out separately. You can fasten the parts together with ordinary wire, for this you need to make holes in the parts with an awl or a thick needle, stretch the wire into them and wrap them well on both sides in a ring.

You need to attach a cane 40-50 cm long to the body of the doll, it can be any thin stick. It is necessary to screw a screw into it and fix the body of a cardboard doll.

In order for the doll to come to life, that is, to start moving, you need to use threads. They must be strong, floss is best suited for this purpose. Pin loops should be fastened in the legs and arms, as well as in the cane. Tie the thread to the loops on the legs and arms and pull it through the eye of the loop on the cane. If you pull on it, the doll's limbs will rise, if you let go, they will fall.

If you tie different colors of thread to the right and left sides, this will allow you not to get confused when setting. But do not get carried away with a variety of colors, while driving during the action it can be confusing.

In order for the silhouette to be clear, the puppet and scenery must be pressed tightly against the screen, the light must be between the screen and the puppeteer.

In fact, to make a shadow theater for children with your own hands, you can also use an ordinary large cardboard box, for example, from under shoes. The main thing is that it stands steadily on the table. Figures can also be anything, you can turn on your imagination and imagination, creating fabulous and unusual characters, or you can cut them out according to ready-made stencils.

Performance for friends

It will be exciting to conduct such an entertaining activity not only with the family, but also with the involvement of friends and their children. In order to arrange a joint shadow theater for children with your own hands, it is better to think over and distribute scripts and roles in advance. Let each of the main characters prepare their own doll at home - it will be even more interesting both for the participant himself and for other children taking part in the performance.

From myself I will add that according to this model I made a theater with my grandchildren. Happiness was a wagon and a small cart!!! All five grandchildren and granddaughters with great diligence carved figurines, painted, glued.......

And then all together and showed and watched.

Below is a master class and ready-made templates for the most famous children's fairy tales.....

FROM THE AUTHOR: "The room is dark and only small rustles of the last preparations are heard, when suddenly the light comes on. It rests on the screen of a white sheet. Dad clears his throat for the last time, and the first silhouette appears on the stage. And the fairy tale comes to life ...

shadow theater“Children fall in love with the shadow theater right away. At first they enthusiastically watch performances, and then they begin to invent the plot themselves. Let, regardless of whether the child has directing abilities or not, at home he is always waiting for a standing ovation.

At the same time, the imagination of the crumbs works at 100, because in the silhouette the child will try to guess the grandmother, dog or mouse. A gentle and native voice from behind the curtains tells a story about distant (or not so) countries, about guys and animals, about good, evil and real magic itself. And all this can be done with your own hands from improvised means in just 15 minutes.

You can organize a stage for a shadow theater from an old box and cut out the silhouettes of the main characters from it, turn on the lamp and the fairy tale will come to life right before your eyes. So let's get started.

1. Making a scene

At the bottom of the old box, we outline a rectangle for the screen.

The outline does not have to be rectangular. The edges can be rounded and decorative patterns added. Thus, the box for the shadow theater will take on an absolutely magical look.

Cut out a hole.

We color this holey box (the item is optional, but it will look neater this way).

On the inside, glue a sheet of paper slightly larger than the hole in size.

2. Hero on a stick

We draw the characters of a fairy tale on a sheet, but rather print it

5.

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8.

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We cut out the characters, stick them on cardboard of any density. Cut out the silhouettes and fix on a stick. For this, electrical tape, a glue gun or adhesive tape are suitable. I used duct tape and a glue gun just to be sure)

I used kitchen skewers, but popsicle sticks, old sticks or pencils work well too.

We are also preparing the scenery (the environment surrounding the characters). To do this, simply cut them out of cardboard of any density. The thicker the scenery, the more difficult it will be to cut it out, and the easier it will be to fix it to the screen.

• scenery fixing

Along the perimeter, you can fix strips of cardboard in which it will be convenient to fix the scenery. That's it, the stage for the shadow theater is ready.

Do-it-yourself shadow theater in kindergarten

Do-it-yourself shadow theater. Master class with step by step photos

Master Class. Making a manual with your own hands

Topic of the lesson: Master Class. shadow theater
Author: Sukhovetskaya Oksana Alexandrovna, teacher of the speech therapy group of the Child Development Center - kindergarten No. 300 "Ryabinushka", Novosibirsk.

Material Description: In this master class you will learn how to make a shadow theater. Shadow theater - will help children get acquainted with the theater in a fun way, show their imagination, develop speech activity. This manual will be useful for children of younger and older preschool age, as well as for school children, teachers and parents. The manual can be used both in individual work and in group work. A master class will help prepare this manual.

Material: to create a theater we need:
- the screen is ready (or you can make it yourself, I won’t dwell on this in detail);
- fabric: white (you can use tracing paper), colored backstage;
- threads to match the fabric;
- velcro tape (linden)
- tubes for a cocktail;
- barbecue sticks (large);
- holnitens (rivets);
- fasteners for electrical wires;
- sewing hooks.

Tools for the job:
- hammer;
- nails;
- clerical knife (cutter);
- a hole punch for a belt;
- scissors;
- press for eyelets;
- awl;
- glue gun;
- ruler;
- pencil pen;
- super-glue "Moment";
- sewing machine.
The result of the master class helps:
Stimulate children and their initiative in theatrical activities.
Develop imagination, creative abilities to develop the articulatory apparatus. To form in children a persistent interest in theatrical activities, a desire to participate in a common action, encourage children to actively interact, communicate, teaches them to be able to communicate with peers and adults in various situations, develop speech and the ability to actively build a dialogue. Develop game behavior, aesthetic feelings, the ability to be creative in any business.

“The theater is a magical world.
He gives lessons in beauty, morality
and morality.
And the richer they are, the more successful
the development of the spiritual world
children…”
(B.M. Teplov)

"Magic Land!" - so the great Russian poet A.S. Pushkin once called the theater. The feelings of the great poet are shared by both adults and children who have come into contact with this amazing art form.

A special role belongs to the theater in solving problems related to the upbringing and development of a preschool child. Through theatrical and gaming creativity, we can develop emotional responsiveness, intelligence in children, we develop children's communication skills, artistry, and speech activity.

In the daily life of the kindergarten, teachers use various types of theaters: bibabo, finger, table, planar (flanelegraph or magnetic board), puppet, book theater, mask theater, etc.

I want to tell and show how to make a complex and at the same time very interesting shadow theater.

Shadow theater is an ancient theatre. From time immemorial shadow paintings have been shown in India, China, Java and Turkey on the street at night by the light of an oil lamp.

Props required for this theatre: light source (e.g. headlamp, table lamp, filmoscope), screen with white screen, silhouette puppets on sticks.

At the first stage of work, for the manufacture of silhouettes, we need the following: a clerical knife (cutter), scissors, a hole punch for a belt, a press for eyelets, holnitens (rivets)

Silhouettes can be prepared on a computer or drawn by yourself. I found the ideas of silhouettes on the Internet, printed on a printer on regular A4 sheets

Then we paste the printed silhouettes on black paper. I immediately prepared the silhouettes of the characters and scenery.

Now these silhouettes need to be cut out. We cut out small internal details with a clerical knife, cut out the silhouettes themselves with scissors.

To prevent the silhouettes from bending, I laminated them. If this is not possible, you can use thick cardboard to stiffen the figures.

The next step is to cut out the already laminated double-sided silhouettes.

Since I really wanted the characters (silhouettes) to have moving elements (for example, they could walk), I made separate elements for the silhouettes: arms, paws, legs.
To set them in motion, the parts must be fastened in a certain way. Both wire and threads with knots at the ends are suitable for fastening. But I wanted some elegance, or something. Therefore, I connected the parts using a belt hole punch and holnitens (rivets).

With a hole punch for a belt, I punched even holes at the fastening points, choosing a diameter such that the rivets did not fly out and had free play. Previously, in the places of fastening with an awl, I marked points, aligning the paws so that in the future they would not warp. Then I connected the rivets with a press for eyelets (this press came up in size to the rivets).

Now you need to fix the sticks on the figures, for which the puppeteers will hold them. It is important for me that the theater is compact. Therefore, my sticks will be removable. The sticks for which the silhouettes will drive are barbecue sticks. Wooden, rounded shape.. We select the tubes for a cocktail with corrugation according to the size of these sticks. It is very important that the sticks in the tubes do not hang out, but sit very tightly. And we need to fix = - glue gun.

With scissors we cut off a part with a corrugation (accordion) at the tube, leaving non-corrugated tips of 1.5 cm each

Using a glue gun, I will fix the tubes on the silhouettes. There are two mounting options: horizontal (with corrugation), see on the wolf; vertical (just a piece of a tube 2 cm) see on the piglet.

To understand in the future which fasteners will be convenient for you, insert the sticks into the tubes.

Try to move the silhouettes, play with them. Basically, I liked both mounts. At the same time, I realized for which silhouettes I would use only a vertical mount, and for which I would use a horizontal mount.

Silhouette figures are ready. Now let's get to the decorations. We have already prepared the base when we glued the silhouettes of the scenery onto black paper, cut it out, laminated it and cut it out again. Now we need to strengthen the silhouettes and at the same time make a system for attaching to the screen. Glue barbecue sticks to the silhouettes on the glue gun with the pointed end down.

In order to make full use of our prepared silhouettes, we will prepare the screen. Fortunately for me, we had such a screen in our group.

We will make the main structural changes inside the screen

We need some simple tools:

On the bottom bar of the window, mark the places for plastic fasteners.

We fix plastic fasteners with nails (these fasteners are usually used in electricians, for fixing wires to walls), at the same time we will try on how the decoration sticks will enter. The mounts must be fixed firmly, not loose, otherwise all of our decorations will not be positioned correctly.

We fix the sewing hooks on the top bar of the window with the Moment super-glue. We need them to place on them such scenery as clouds, the sun, the moon, birds. We fasten the velcro tape (linden) under the hooks. It is better to fix it on a furniture stapler so that it does not come off.

On the lower bar above the mounts for decorations, we will also fix the velcro tape.

From the outside, it all looks interesting. The versatility of the manipulations carried out is that all these fastenings can be used not only for the shadow theater, but also for playing any other puppet show.

We will attach a white screen to the velcro tape. We will make the screen from a piece of white calico. Using a tape measure, measure the width and height of the window. (tracing paper can be used instead of fabric, unfortunately, it is less reliable)

Cut out a piece of a rectangular shape, carefully process the edges. On the top and bottom we sew a velcro tape - its second half.

Now the screen can be placed on the screen. It will be held tight by the velcro tape.

Outwardly, the screen seemed boring to me now. So I decided to transform it. Curtain-blinds will decorate our theater.

Sew a pelmet from a narrow rectangular strip of fabric. The lambrequin will cover the top bar of the window.

From the rectangles with finished edges, you will get a curtain in two parts. Both sides can be assembled. You can make a removable fibula so that the curtain can completely close the window or be open unhindered.
With a self-adhesive film to match our curtain, I glued the bottom of the screen.

For comparison: what was and what has become

Our theater is almost ready to show the performance. It remains to install the necessary light and invite the actors with the audience.

In order for the audience to see the performance, we need two light sources. As a light source, ordinary headlamps will act. They are safe and easy to use.