Shadow puppetry offers opportunities to act out stories from the Underground Railroad, the network of free Blacks, Quakers, and abolitionists who helped men, women, and children escape slavery in the decades prior to the Civil
How to
How to make puppet rods with duct or painters tape
In this instructional video I am showing you how to make a silhouette or shadow puppet using a cheap and sturdy alternative for rods that are attached to the puppets with velcro. The instructions are
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Tricks and Techniques
Riding a horse and wagon
If you want to act out stories from the Underground Railroad or other stories in which puppets need transportation, you may want to use a horse and wagon. In our printable library you will find
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Greek mythology
Using an Overhead Projector for Shadow Puppetry
If you are doing a shadow puppetry performance for larger audiences, using an overhead projector as the light source has several advantages. The light is stronger than traditional lamps and is distributed more evenly over
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Tricks and Techniques
Going Bigger: Using Masks and Direct Projection
If you are using an overhead projector and big screen and want to have some variety in size (for instance to emphasize the difference between gods and mortals) there are two ways of doing so.
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How to
Using a Tri-fold Presentation Board for a Durable Screen
If you are thinking of doing shadow puppetry more than a handful of times you may want to invest in a durable frame that can be stored easily and will withstand stains and humidity. What
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How to
Using Bendable Straws for Puppet Rods
Instead of using velcro to connect moving rods to a puppet a cheap alternative is the use use bendable straws, first introduced by David and Donna Wisniewski in Worlds of Shadow, Teaching with Shadow Puppetry. You can
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How to
Using a Big Screen
If you want to do shadow puppetry as a class project or for a performance, you need a larger screen and puppets that are big enough to be seen well by the audience (12″-15″). The