Shadow Puppets in a Cereal Box Theater

Does this craft bring you back? Even if you never made a shadow puppet theater from a cereal box, you’ve definitely made shadow puppets on the wall with your hands. This cereal box theater allows your kids to put on a fun shadow puppet show in front of a live audience! Have them invite some friends over for the show and get ready for a great time.

You will need:

Empty cereal box
1 sheet of wax paper
Dowels or craft sticks
Black construction paper
Tape
Scissors
Glue stick
Desk lamp

Start by opening the cereal box so that it’s one big piece. Don’t tear or cut anything as you will be putting the box back together.

From the front panel, cut a rectangular hole, leaving about 3/4″ border. Repeat this process on the back panel as well. Don’t throw away the pieces you cut out as they can be used to make the puppets.

This is what it should look like. We will be reassembling the box inside out, so go ahead and crease all of the existing creases, only in the opposite direction. This will make it easier to reassemble.

Trim your piece of waxed paper to fit neatly over the opening (covering the borders as well) on one side of the box. Tape the waxed paper over the opening.

Reassemble the box by following the crease lines and taping it all back together. The inside of the box should now be on the outside!

Cut out puppet shapes from black construction paper. You can freehand your own characters, or use these cute shadow puppet printables we found on 100 Directions. There are three sets; one boy specific, one girl specific and another with general family puppets. Tape a dowel or craft stick to the back of the puppet.

Hint: to make sturdier puppets, use a glue stick to cover those extra cardboard pieces you saved from the cereal box with construction paper. Cut out the patterns from the paper covered cardboard and proceed as above.

Now that you are ready to put on the show, all you need is a desk lamp. Set up your box theater on a table or chair and position your lamp behind the box. The puppeteer should be able to position the puppets behind the theater so that the light shines through!

Amanda Formaro is a well-known craft expert and has been writing and crafting on the Internet for over fifteen years. Find out more on her blog, Crafts by Amanda, where she shares tutorials with step-by-step photos for adults and kids alike.