1225: Stories that are Fun to Tell!
Some stories we went through:
The Three Billy Goats Gruff
The Three Pigs
Elephant in a Well (we did a variation on this story)
Marcus the Monkey
The Old Lady and the Mice
Don’t Count Your Chickens
Nursery Rhymes which go well with shadow puppetry:
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
There Was an Old Monster
Hey Diddle Diddle, the Cat and the Fiddle
Jack Be Nimble, Jack Be Quick
Jack and Jill Went Up the Hill
Things to remember with shadow puppetry:
--stand and work the puppets BEHIND the screen
--use a flashlight or some bright light (but tape down the cord so no one trips on it)
--a picture frame makes a great shadow screen
--wing nuts hold on the legs so they can be adjusted
--20x24” is a good size for the screen
--muslin or other thin fabric is good to cover the screen
--4 ply tagboard (cereal or Kleenex boxes) make good puppets
--punch holes for eyes
--non bendable straws make great control rods
To make your own shadow screen
-- purchase a wooden picture frame at a garage sale.
--cover the frame with muslin.
--use wing nuts to add the legs, so they can bend to the desired depth so your puppets will not
fall off the screen.
--nail a 1x1” strip of fir trim to the base at the front of the screen. This will hold your scenery
pieces and any puppets you are not moving during the story.
In about the 12th century in China a man in the court of the emperor invited women to sit behind
the screen to watch a shadow play. (Actual stage productions were for men, only.) A large sheet
was hung from the ceiling and lamps were used on the side of the puppeteer. A band made up of
mostly gongs and other percussion instruments accompanied the performer. He had a wooden
bar behind the screen with holes in which he could insert those puppets he was not moving. He
told wonderful stories and made elaborate scenery. The women loved it. As men began to
attend the plays, they sat behind the shadow screen on the side of the puppeteer. In India the
puppets of important characters got larger and larger. Some are well over six feet high! The
stories are often memorized in a specific order and they are told outside all night through. If the
puppeteer makes any mistakes, the audience will catch every wrong word!
Some of the storytelling books with patterns I’ve written you might find in your library:
Storytelling Magic
Storytelling Patterns
Do Me! Stories
I Can! Stories
The Three Bears and other Stories with Hats
The 3 Little Pigs and Other Stories with Masks
Some resources I really love:
Scissor Stories for Fall by Jean Warren
Scissor Stories for Winter by Jean Warren
Scissor Stories for Spring by Jean Warren
Fold and Cut Stories and Fingerplays by Marj Hart
Move Over, Mother Goose! by Ruth Dowell
To make the movable mouth puppets we did in the workshop:
--use assorted 12x18” construction paper (flimsy paper makes flimsy puppets)
--use white glue (glue sticks really don’t hold the cut paper very well)
--fold the paper in thirds
--fold the above in half, then each section in half again. You will make an M or a W.
--be sure to add eyes up where your fingers go. Then add eyebrows, ears, a nose, etc. You will
not need to make a mouth. The puppet has a mouth. But teeth and tongue are good!
Go Wild! Have fun. Now try letting the puppet tell some nursery rhymes from Ruth Dowell’s
Move Over, Mother Goose!