How to Build a Stage With Curtains for a Children's Project
Puppet theaters are traditional in every culture. From the Punch and Judy shows in European parks to elaborate staged productions in Russia to the lacy shadow puppets of Thailand, young and old delight in the drama and fantasy. An easy-to-make rainy day puppet theater can be fashioned from materials stashed around the house. An empty box, some fabric remnants, tape and your imagination are all it takes for bored children to get lost in fabulous story telling, swordfights and swoons, princesses and pirates, dragons and disasters. Small dolls, popsicle stick paper puppets and action figures make the perfect cast. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Cardboard box
- Dessert plate or compass
- Scissors
- Box cutter
- Tape
- Pencil
- Glue
- Markers
- Hobby paint
- Paint brushes
- Craft foam or felt
- Scrap fabric, velvet or brocade
- 1/8 to ¼ inch dowel
Instructions
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Open the cardboard box and lay it flat. Use a dessert plate or a compass to draw three arcs along the top edge of the front panel, just above the fold. Trace three arcs on a slant on each side panel. Start at the top front corners of each side and angle down to 2 inches above the bottom back corners. Draw a line across the bottom of the back panel about 2 inches up from the fold.
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Use a box cutter along the lines to cut out the arches and the top part of the back panel. When cutting the side panels, be sure to stop at the point 2 inches up from the bottom. Mark a stage opening on the front panel, leaving 3 inches on either side, 3 inches down from the fold across the top, and 2 inches up from the bottom. Cut out this front proscenium arch. You should have a box with no top, decorative side and front panels, a stage opening and a low strip across the open back that helps to support the box when it is open.
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Glue a strip of cardboard across the back fold at the top of the front panel behind the top arches to keep them upright. Tape the corners where the sides meet the back strip for reinforcement. Punch a small hole in each side panel at the top about an inch below the top edge of the uppermost arch. Reinforce these holes with tape inside and out, and trim the tape so the holes are open. Slide a 1/8-inch dowel, an inch or so longer than the width of the box, through the holes to be sure they are large enough to accommodate it easily.
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Tape the bottom panels together so the box is now "open" and stands up. Paint the inside of the box black and the outside white. Paint the dowel gold. When the paint dries, let the young puppet masters decorate the outside of the theater with glued-on cut-out felt shapes like scrolls or stars, marker designs or hobby paint. Cut and hem two lengths of scrap velvet or another nice fabric and sew a sleeve at the top of each one so it will slip over the dowel. Insert the dowel in one side of the theater, slide the curtains over the rod, push the dowel through the other hole, arrange the curtains so they are open center stage. Let the show begin.
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References
- Photo Credit Henry Gan/Photodisc/Getty Images
