How to Make a Cardboard Puppet Theater

You thought I was kidding about the puppet theater, didn’t you?

(Can you identify all the puppets?)

How do you like that bruise on Charlie’s forehead, by the way? We went to a splash pad with some friends the other day, and Charlie and his buddy both decided that it only made sense to run through the water jets with their eyes closed. Yup. Crash!

So, we took a little cardboard box and taped the flaps open to give it a little more height.

Then, I cut a vaguely curtain-y shape out of the front of the box with a knife.

Next, I cut an arch out of the back so little hands can slide in between the box and the table.

Now comes the fun part: DECORATING! We put construction paper on the top and the sides, and I made a little banner to go across the bottom as well as some “curtains” to complete the front. (TIP: I used my cut-out piece of cardboard to trace the shape of the curtains onto my paper.)

I cannot explain the face Charlie is making in this picture…or why it makes me laugh. So. Hard.

So there you have it! A little puppet theater made with only stuff I had laying around the house. The boys like it so much that they played with it last night when the babysitter was here – not such a big deal unless you realize that on babysitter nights they’re allowed to play video games the whole time, and they spent (quoting the sitter, here) “a really long time” playing with this instead.

Tweet

You May Also Like:

1. Let’s Talk Turkey
2. How to Make a Magazine Organizer – for Free*
3. How to Make Hand Puppets for Anyone