Earlier versions were published in March, 2019 and February, 2020 On March 23, 1849, months after his wife and children were sold to a new owner, Henry Brown escaped slavery in Richmond, Virginia in a
Helene is the founder of Past Times and a crafter, archivist, and children’s book author. Her passion is bringing history to life for children, classrooms, and families through imagination and play.
American history
Local history tableaus
An earlier version was published on October 4, 2022 There are 22 places in the United States that are called Lawrence. But only one of them got that name because the original one, Maidenhead, was
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Bible stories
The Nativity Story
Nativity story written by Sara Wegman, illustrated with photos of the Nativity puppets on a magnetic board (instructions how to make one here) In November 2018, at my daughter Sara’s suggestion, I created the puppets
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Black history
Silhouette puppets for Black History month
Most of the puppets in the Black History section of our Printable Library are the result of shadow puppetry projects that I did during Black History month with my friend Davie-Lyn Jones, a fifth grade
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Tricks and Techniques
Puppets for a cause
My most recent fun with silhouette (shadow) puppets has been using them as magnetic puppets. You can create a magnetic board by covering a metal sheet with thin paper and attach the puppets with magnetic
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Black history
Paul Robeson: athlete, actor, singer, activist
Paul Robeson (1898-1976) was a world famous athlete, actor, singer, and activist, who became known for both his cultural achievements as well as his political stances. In this post some information, as well as a
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Music and composers
Dancing with Beyoncé
Have you have been enjoying Beyoncé’s latest album Cowboy Carter and maybe even tried the viral dance moves to Texas Hold’em? Then you may enjoy making a silhouette puppet of Beyoncé and let her dance.
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Family history
Make memories with family puppets during the holidays!
If you think that shadow puppets can only be used for shadow puppetry, you are wrong! Among the many puppets with patterns in our Printable Library I have used the puppets above not only in
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How to
Historical puppets for language arts
Many posts on this site have been about using silhouette puppets to engage with history by acting out stories. However, they can also be great for language arts, allowing students to interact with a historical