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Simple Shadow Puppetry for the Classroom and Stage

By Brian D. Taylor, Project Editor, Pioneer Drama Service 

Brian Taylor is a former middle school drama teacher and the newest addition to the Pioneer Drama editorial staff.  Working with K-12, college and community theatre groups, he has a theatrical background with experience in directing, acting and technical theatre.  When he’s not working on a production, Brian writes children’s and young adult fiction. 

Want to bring a story to life in the classroom?  Working on a stage show but can’t decide how to handle all of the scene changes?  Need a good “hands on” project for the students next week?  For all these scenarios, shadow puppetry can be an excellent solution.

Your students may roll their eyes and grumble when you first mention the idea of shadow puppetry to them.  This is because the only shadow puppetry most people are familiar with is the campy hand shadow shows performed by flashlight at slumber parties and during blackouts.  However, the art of shadow puppetry is far more than hands and flashlights.  A very old form of entertainment with a rich history, it offers many artistic options for the cash strapped teacher or director.

The best part about shadow puppetry is that everything you need to get started is easily obtainable.  In fact, most of it is probably already in your classroom.  First off, you’ll need a light source, such as a projector.  Next, you’ll need a shadow screen where the shadows will appear for your show.  This can be anything from a white bed sheet to simple butcher paper as long as it isn’t too thick for light to pass through.  Either can be hung from a simple frame or from the ceiling.  Overhead projectors are perfect for shadow puppetry because you can create light and shadow two different ways:  by using the glass picture plate of the projector onto any type of screen or by utilizing a shadow screen as with other light sources.

Of course, you also need puppets, but before you get your students started making them, you’ll need a script.  In my classrooms, I typically let the students write their own scripts based on a fable, nursery rhyme or fairy tale.  When students write their own scripts, it not only gives them extra writing practice, but they get excited about their performance from the very beginning of the project.  Short stories also work great as puppet show scripts just by performing it as readers theater with puppets.  You might also consider using written (projected on the overhead) or spoken poetry or even music as your script.  The options are as far-reaching as your imagination.

When you have a script in mind, you can begin to build puppets.  These can be built from sturdy black construction paper, cardstock or poster board.  Basically, any material that will cast a shadow will work.  Simply cut out the outlines of your characters, then embellish them with smaller cuts for eyes, mouths or other features as needed.  You may want to start with a silhouette.  A Google search for “silhouette” will give you many character shapes to get you started.  Or, if limited strictly to educational use with no audience in attendance, you could also print out licensed characters that your students will recognize.  In my classroom, the students desperately wanted to do a Spongebob Squarepants script.  We easily found online pictures of the characters, printed them and began to cut out the shapes.

When cutting out the puppets, consider the size of the characters you will be using.  This is not only for obvious reasons – for instance, the Giant in “Jack and the Beanstalk” would need to be far larger than Jack – but also because size becomes a factor when you are considering how each puppet will be used.  If you are performing against a shadow screen, which is the usual technique of shadow puppetry, you will need medium to large size puppets that fit the scale of your screen.  However, you may find that using the glass picture plate on the overhead projector itself is handy.  In that case, the puppets will need to be much smaller to fit the picture plate scale.  Knowing the size of your puppets will also help you determine what to use for control rods.  For smaller puppets, straightened paper clips work well.  For larger puppets, bamboo skewers are both cheap and sturdy and can be found in your neighborhood grocery store.  Popsicle sticks or tongue depressors are also easily available at most craft stores.  Whatever you use, simply secure the control rod with tape and you have a complete shadow puppet.

Finally, you’ll need a setting.  Shadow puppet settings are best done small scale on the overhead’s picture plate.  Here’s where your settings can get very creative and elaborate on a very small budget.  For the Spongebob scene I described earlier, we were able to print a picture of Spongebob’s house, the pineapple under the sea, onto cardstock and cut out its elements in great detail to project.  Trees, houses, mountains, oceans, beanstalks, castles, outer space and pretty much any world you can imagine can easily be turned into a shadow puppet show setting by simply drawing or printing its components onto cardstock and cutting them out.  Another option with an overhead projector is to use a transparency sheet of any scene you like.

Ideally, you can project the setting with the overhead projector, either with cutouts or a transparency, then use larger puppets behind the shadow screen for your characters.  Of course, some collaboration and experimentation will be necessary to get the sizing to work, but that’s half the fun...  and the learning!

No doubt, shadow puppetry is extremely simple, low cost and versatile.  In the next edition of this newsletter, I will share more ideas about how to incorporate shadow puppets into your classrooms and productions, including making puppets with moving parts, using colored gels and creating special effects for your show.