Shadow Puppets

 Shadows have become a recent fascination at my house. 

I just love these Fairy Shadow Puppets made by Moulin Roty. 

What a cute way to introduce shadows to kids and spark imaginative play as well.

The possibilities for making your own shadow puppets are endless and the cost involved is next to nothing.

All you need is:
Black card stock or paper
Scissors, X-acto knife, hole punch
Chop sticks, doll rods or popsicle sticks
Pencil
glue or tape
Packing tape or laminating machine (optional)
Silhouette images - feel free to use my template below

***UPDATE***
I have converted the transportation shadow puppet pattern into a Silhouette file. * If you have a Silhouette and want to easily cut these out, email me at whilewearingheels at gmail.com and I'll send you a copy of the file. 

If cars and trucks don't spark your interest, try drawing your own design or do an image search to find a silhouette of what was does interest you.

To make a template, I drew and cut my design out using white paper. Using my template, I then traced my design onto black card stock (which I realize sounds like double the work). If you are more artistic than I am, proceed directly to drawing your image onto the card stock without the worry of creating a template. 

Cut your images out using whatever works best or quickest. I found using a hole punch for the wheels and rocket ship saved time. The windows were cut using an X-acto knife. 

The first set of shadow puppets I made got sat on and as a result the shadows looked crumpled and sad. Lesson learned. To reinforce the shadow puppets I now cover them with a layer of packing tape on both sides. Moments like this I realize how nice it would be to have a laminator...but these moments are few and far between so a laminator is not my future. This step is completely optional.

Trim the tape off along the edge of the image. I opted not to remove the tape covering the windows and wheels. 

Glue (or tape) chop sticks to the back (not that it matters which is the front and which is the back) of the silhouette. 

Grab a flashlight. 

Let your imagination go and have some fun...

The wheels on the bus go round and round.

 3-2-1 Blast Off!

Simply displayed, they are even cute. I finally found a use for my flower frog.

I hope you enjoy making a set of your own.