Your own cardboard puppet theater

It's almost Easter break, so maybe you want to do some crafting with your children or grandchildren? The idea of ​​this theater made of cardboard is that the actors will be hung on wires from the ceiling of the theater, where we have left a hole. Since we are from Brussels, I wanted to do something in the classic Art Nouveau style, so the theater was painted in yellow, blue and pink pastels, with a heavy curtain in deep red hanging on a curtain rod just below the ceiling.

Here's how:

We used a fairly large piece of cardboard, about the size of a moving box, taped the edges and folds together, glued them in place with a glue gun, left a hole in the top of the “roof” (for the actors or puppets) and drew out the details in pencil. When we were happy, we cut everything out.

I cut the stage opening quite deep, close to the floor (or table, where it will probably be played), but I saved 2 cm to be able to put down a sturdy wooden board that we will paint black to make the theater real. I saved the curtain cutout for fake stage trees. We will glue them to the wall so that the actors can change behind them and wait for their turn.

At the back I will make an opening where we can hang paintings of different scenarios, a castle, a forest, a lake, a room... The puppeteer can then switch between the scenarios. Right now we are entering a magical forest that the children have painted themselves.

All on stage!