Puppets and Theater Plan
Old man winter has settled in, but your kids will love days they can’t go outside if you make pine cone-acorn puppets. You can even create a puppet stage for performances. All you need are pine cones, acorns, a little paint, and a lot of imagination!
Create the Puppets
Pine cone puppets can be created using whatever you happen to have on hand for pine cone embellishment. I used a variety of items that were lying around the house for the puppets shown in this picture. Although I used commercial plastic eyes for the puppets shown, other materials that work well are paper, felt, or paint. Feet on these puppets were made from acorn tops, but anything that props the puppet up works well. Hair shown on top of “Mom’s” head is raffia and her apron is a fabric scrap. “Junior” has an acorn head with eyes and mouth painted on with permanent markers.
Build the Theater
Puppet theaters come in all sizes and shapes. Find a box lid or box a size you like. The theater shown in the picture is the lid of a box holding reams of computer paper. This box lid was left intact with background scenery painted on the inside of the lid. Puppets in this type of theater can either be placed on Popsicle sticks and moved from below or openly moved as the story unfolds.
Scenery for your puppet theater can be made from whatever materials become believable to the audience. Larger pine cones make trees in the picture shown, and no other props were used.
Performance Time
Your first performance will be more successful if a familiar story, like a fairy tale, is used. Once your family gets used to creating puppets and scenery, have them write their own stories to perform.
Don’t hesitate to try stop-motion video production to turn their live puppet shows into instant animation for yet another winter day of fun!
