Center Two Hand Critters Project an overhead on one of the classroom walls. Students take turns making shadow puppets with their hands. Encourage them to experiment with moving their hands closer to the light and then farther away. Have students create riddles for their classmates to solve. Center Three Shadow Puppets Have a variety of tag board animal templates for students to use to make their own stick puppets.
Students trace the animal, cut it out and fasten it to a craft stick.
Have an overhead available for students to try out their puppets. Working in small groups, they create a shadow puppet story to present to the class. Center Four Shadow Plays Create a shadow stage using a bed sheet and some empty cartons. Make a safety pin hem on the bed sheet and run the dowel or curtain rod through it. Place it atop two sets of cartons which have been stacked and weighted down.