DIY Puppet Theater

PBJ: Post By Julie

Last summer I found this little cabinet at a yard sale for 3 dollars!

I decided to make a finger puppet theater that can stay at grandma’s house so all the grandkids can enjoy it. I removed the glass panes from the doors, cut out a panel (it was just heavy chipboard paneling) from the back and

painted the cabinet brown. For the flag poles I used pieces of bamboo skewers with a piece of a plastic tube/straw over it, then glued a carved wood ball on top and painted them all gold.

I drilled holes to put them in and secured with glue. The flags are just painted chip board with gold trim glued on. (yeah E6000 ) I glued several kinds of trim on the cabinet, sewed curtains out of red velveteen which is gathered on a piece of wire coat hanger. The wire is pushed into screw holes where the glass had been secured in the front.

I gathered and put trim and tassels on the drapes and made a “curtain” to hang on the back of the theater.

I used Velcro to hold the curtain on at the top, and made little wood braces on the sides to hold the fabric out/away so little hands can reach up to work the puppets. I might make several more of these with actual scenes on them, barnyard, mountains, castle, etc. to go along with different stories. ( but I think that’s just making work for myself! Haha) For now, we will encourage the kids to imagine anything they want!

The finger puppets are crocheted in the Philippines. My sister-in-law lives there and sent them to me. I did make the little girl one from a pattern, but I might try crafting my own (not crochet). For the bottom half of the theater I think I will make some little storage trunks for the puppets to live in. It’s still a work in progress, but it’s been fun to do!

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