I’ll add on my own that I used this model to create a theater with my grandchildren. Happiness was the carriage and the small cart!!! All five grandchildren and granddaughters, with great diligence, cut out the figures, painted them, glued them.......

And then everyone showed and watched together.

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 final preparations can be 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 immediately fall in love with the shadow theater. First, they enthusiastically watch the performances, and then begin to invent the plot themselves. Let, regardless of whether the child has directorial abilities or not, an ovation always awaits him at home.

At the same time, the baby’s imagination works at 100, because in the silhouette the child will try to guess the grandmother, the dog or the mouse. A gentle and familiar voice from behind the scenes tells a story about distant (or not so distant) countries, about children and animals, about good, evil and real magic. And all this can be done with your own hands from available materials 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 can be added. This will give the shadow theater box an absolutely magical look.

Cut a hole.

We paint this holey box (this step is optional, but it will look neater this way).

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

2. Hero on a stick

We draw fairy tale characters on a sheet of paper, or better yet, print them out

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We cut out the characters and paste them onto cardboard of any thickness. We cut out the silhouettes and fix them on a stick. Electrical tape, glue gun or tape are suitable for this. I used electrical tape and a glue gun just to be sure)

I used skewers, but popsicle sticks, old pencil leads, or pencils also work well.

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

• securing decorations

You can attach strips of cardboard around the perimeter, in which it will be convenient to fix the decorations. That's it, the stage for the shadow theater is ready.

• hole at the bottom

The further the characters are from the screen, the blurrier their silhouettes appear. To keep the stage stable but still have backstage access, I made a hole in the support wall. Thus, the heroes became closer to the screen, and it became easier to control them.

Imagine - evening twilight, a tightly drawn curtain and spectators frozen in anticipation of a miracle. Soon, next to the most ordinary lamp, a magical performance will begin, woven from almost nothing. Shadow theater is a fascinating spectacle that appeals to children of any age, from one-year-old babies to primary schoolchildren, who happily take part in the preparation of the performance and come up with their own fairy tales for the shadow performance.

You don't have to go to a real theater to watch a theatrical performance of light and shadow. All this can be done at home using available materials. Home shadow theater is a fun and useful activity for the whole family. Everyone can participate in the preparation and performance of the performance, imagination is in full swing, the plot is full of surprises, and the level of complexity of the scenery and figures depends on the interest of the kids and the time that everyone is ready to devote to it.

What kind of shadow theater is there?

Finger theater consists of shadows that appear on the screen due to the different positions of the hands and the intertwining of the “director’s” fingers. Most often these are images of well-known animals, but professionals can show human faces or some inanimate objects. This is great for training fine motor skills and coordination.

Puppet theater is a performance using ready-made figures and scenery. The characters are cut out of cardboard, mounted on sticks and moved according to the action. Due to the fact that almost anything can be cut out of cardboard, the shadow puppet theater provides a boundless field for the flight of children's imagination.

What do you need for a home shadow theater?

1. Light source - this can be a simple table lamp, a travel flashlight or any other lamp with directional light.

2. Screen - is a translucent white plane that can be made from different materials - tracing paper, a thin white sheet, ordinary Whatman paper or sheets of white paper fastened together. The frame for the screen can be a cut-out lid from any box, an artistic stretcher, a two-story children's bed - any structure on which you can stretch the screen. You can make it from a decomposed shoe box and stretch a sheet over a bunk bed. A small “stage” is suitable for simple finger shows, but if you want to prepare a real puppet show, it is better to make a spacious large screen where the whole story will fit.

3. Setting and Characters – Choose where you want to start. If you decide to try finger theater, practice with your child how to fold your palms and fingers in such a way that “live” images of animals appear on the screen. A dog can bark, a crocodile can open its toothy mouth, a bunny can move its ears - whatever you imagine. For the puppet theater you will need thick cardboard from which you will cut out decorations and figures.

Helpful Tips:

1. The screen should be located between the audience and the lamp. The actors are between the lamp and the screen. Remember that the lamp gets hot and it is best not to touch the light source during the performance.

2. In order for the shadows to be clear, the light should fall directly, and not from the side, and the lamp should not be close, but two or three meters from the wall.

3. The light source should always be behind the screen and slightly to the side. Position yourself so that the shadow of your body almost does not fall on the screen, and the shadow of your hands is evenly clear.

4. It is better to paint cardboard figures with black paint, then they will be contrasting and noticeable on the screen.

5. The size of the shadows on the screen depends on the distance from the figure to the light source. To make the figure smaller, bring it close to the screen. To make it grow in size, place it further away. It is better to secure the scenery close to the screen with tape or bent paper clips so that they do not move during the performance, and little directors will have an extra pair of hands.

6. If the children like the home theater, make a real curtain, tickets and programs. During the performance, you can arrange a real intermission with an impromptu buffet.

5. Start with a small number of characters - two or three are enough for the first time. With practice, you can easily move on to more complex performances.

6. To make the performance “colorful,” use colored light bulbs or filters that can be attached to the lamp. For night scenes - a blue filter, for morning scenes - a red one, and so on.

7. The figures can be made movable by wrapping their arms, legs, wings and tails with soft wire. Instead of sticks that hold characters up, use regular drinking straws.

Shadow theater for children usually means not only a theater with puppets, but also images of animal shadows using hands. Parents can amaze 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 famous were fond of it, because the puppets were made by hand from thin, well-dressed camel skin. Openwork dolls, animals and birds, painted by masters in all the colors of the rainbow, were expensive.

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

DIY animal shadows

Organizing a shadow theater at home couldn't be easier! There is nothing complicated about animal shadows; most often, just two hands are enough to see a bunny, dog or bird.

So, how to make eyeshadow 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, 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 hands together as shown in any of the pictures.

You can also bring animal shadows to life with your own hands! Move your fingers and your bunny will fold his ears and the bird will fly. Teach your child to draw shadows of animals; this will develop the baby’s motor skills and spatial thinking.

DIY shadow theater in kindergarten

DIY shadow theater. Master class with step-by-step photos

Master Class. Making a manual with your own hands

Lesson topic: Master Class. Shadow theater
Author: Sukhovetskaya Oksana Aleksandrovna, teacher of the speech therapy group of the Child Development Center - kindergarten No. 300 “Ryabinushka”, Novosibirsk.

Description of material: 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, and develop speech activity. This methodological guide will be useful for children of primary and senior preschool age, as well as for school-age 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 will need:
- the screen is ready-made (or you can make it yourself, I won’t dwell on this in detail);
- fabric: white (tracing paper can be used), colored for the scenes;
- threads to match the fabric;
- Wilcro tape (linden)
- cocktail straws;
- barbecue sticks (large);
- holniten (rivets);
- fastenings for electrical wires;
- sewing hooks.

Tools for work:
- hammer;
- nails;
- stationery knife (cutter);
- hole punch for 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, develop the articulatory apparatus. To form in children a persistent interest in theatrical activities, a desire to participate in a common action, to encourage children to actively interact and communicate, teaches them to be able to communicate with peers and adults in various situations, to develop speech and the ability to actively build dialogue. Develop playful behavior, aesthetic feelings, and the ability to be creative in any task.

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

"Magic land!" - this is what 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 form of art.

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

In the daily life of a kindergarten, teachers use various types of theaters: bibabo, finger theater, tabletop, planar (flannelgraph or magnetic board), puppet theater, 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 theater. Since time immemorial, shadow paintings have been shown in India, China, Java and Turkey on the street at night under the light of an oil lamp.

Props, which is required for this theater: a light source (for example, a headlamp, a table lamp, a filmoscope), a screen with a white screen, silhouette puppets on sticks.

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

Silhouettes can be prepared on the computer or drawn yourself. I found ideas for silhouettes on the Internet, printed them on regular A4 sheets

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

Now these silhouettes need to be cut out. We cut out small internal details using a stationery knife, and 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 movable 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 grace, or something. Therefore, I connected the parts using a belt hole punch and rivets.

Using a hole punch for the belt, I punched even holes in the fastening points, choosing a diameter such that the rivets would not fly out and would move freely. Previously, in the places of fastening, I marked out points with an awl, aligning the paws so that in the future they would not warp. Then I used a grommet press to connect the rivets (this press was the right size for the rivets).

Now you need to attach the sticks to the figures, by which the puppeteers will hold them. It is important to me that the theater is compact. Therefore, my sticks will be removable. The sticks that the silhouettes will use are barbecue sticks. Wooden, round in shape.. We match these sticks to the size of corrugated cocktail tubes. It is very important that the sticks in the tubes do not dangle, but sit very tightly. And we need a glue gun to secure it.

Using scissors, cut off the part with the corrugation (accordion) from the tube, leaving uncorrugated ends of 1.5 cm

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

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

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

The silhouette figures are ready. Now let's do the decorations. We had 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. We glue barbecue sticks to the silhouettes using a glue gun with the pointed end down.

In order to fully take advantage of our prepared silhouettes, let’s prepare the screen. Luckily for me, our group had such a screen.

We will make the main design changes inside the screen

We need simple tools:

On the bottom strip of the window we will mark places for plastic fasteners.

Let's fasten the plastic fasteners with nails (these fasteners are usually used by electricians to secure wires to the walls), and at the same time we'll try on how the decoration sticks will fit in. The fasteners must be firmly fixed and not loose, otherwise all our decorations will not be positioned correctly.

We attach sewing hooks to the top strip of the window using Moment super glue. We need them to place on them such decorations as clouds, sun, moon, birds. We attach Vilcro tape (linden) under the hooks. It is better to attach it to a furniture stapler so that it does not come off.

We also attach Vilcro tape to the bottom bar above the fastenings for decorations.

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

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

Cut out a rectangular piece and carefully trim the edges. We will sew vilcro tape on the top and bottom - its second half.

Now the screen can be placed on the screen. It will be held taut by the Vilcro tape.

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

Let's sew a lambrequin from a narrow rectangular strip of fabric. The lambrequin will cover the top crossbar of the window.

From rectangles with processed 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 cover the window or be open without obstruction.
I covered the bottom of the screen with self-adhesive film to match our curtain.

For comparison: what was and what has become