Templates for paper shadow puppet theater. Master class on making a universal screen and templates for a shadow theater. The main thing is that the light source is behind you

Shadow theater- magic that can settle in your home. You can create it for your child with your own hands.

What we need:

Thick cardboard
White paper
PVA glue
brushes for glue and paint
scissors
steel wire 2 mm
wire cutters and pliers for working with wire
wooden slats approximately 1.5 X 1 cm
Fibreboard approximately 14 X 30 X 40 cm
screws
wallpaper nails
dye
white fabric (cotton) without pattern
cocktail straw
insulating tape
slide projector (lantern, table lamp)
templates (you can take ready-made ones, or you can draw them yourself)

Draw or print templates for puppets and decorations.

Puppets for shadow theater can be small in size - about 5-10 cm, and during the performance the height of the characters can be changed by bringing the figure closer to the screen or, conversely, moving it away.

Glue the template sheets onto cardboard. Try to lubricate the template with glue without gaps, but not too much - the part should fit tightly and not warp the cardboard base.

Press dry the dolls and cover them with a layer of PVA glue for strength. The brush should be semi-dry so that the figures do not warp.

Cardboard dolls are not easy to cut, especially in areas where there are internal or external corners. Instead of scissors, it is convenient to use a stationery knife.

If you have golden hands and a lot of patience, you can use a stationery knife to cut out the kennels of the face, eyes and small parts inside the dolls. If you glue transparent tracing paper onto the figures, they will sparkle with different shades of black and gray colors. You can also use transparent color film to add color.

To make movable dolls, you need to separately draw and cut out arms, legs and other parts that can move. Dynamic parts rotate on screws or wire, and a wire holder is attached to each of them for control.

If the dolls are still warped, put them under a press for several days.

Holders for dolls and decorations can be made removable for convenience. Glue paper pockets on the back of the dolls. They should be slightly curved outward so that the holder loop fits in easily.

Most suitable material- wire. Make rings on both sides of a piece of wire - one for the pocket on the “back” of the doll, the other so that the holder does not rotate in your hands. We got holders 13 cm long for dolls. The decoration holders turned out to be 5 cm long and with rings on only one side. The diameter of the rings is 1 cm.

If you don't have wire, glue on popsicle sticks - this quick option holders for dolls. But it has a drawback - the sticks roughen and spoil the silhouette of the dolls during the performance.

You can make standard dolls (grandfather, grandmother, granddaughter, animals) and use them in different performances. If you want to put new performance, you will only have to make the missing heroes. Sets of heroes for different fairy tales It is advisable to place them in signed envelopes.

The screen for the performance can be wooden or cardboard. You can even use a picture frame instead of a screen.

Cardboard screens are easier to make and decorate, but are less durable.

It is not at all necessary to make the screen traditionally rectangular. If you are seriously interested in shadow theater, then you can make a whole set of screen-scenery in the form of a castle, a forest, a hut...

Our screen is made of wooden slats. Its dimensions are:

total height – 45 cm
height of “camouflage” fiberboard – 15 cm
screen height – 30 cm
frame width – 50 cm
the length of the stands (legs) for the frame is 25 cm.

The frame needs to be painted, and the lower part of the frame can be decorated with a story picture.

A favorite theme for screen design is the starry sky. For our theater, we played up the plot of the fairy tale about the golden key. We made decorations from silver insulating tape.

For strength, parts can be coated with PVA glue or varnish.

The screen is covered with fabric. To measure the fabric correctly, trace the frame directly onto the fabric and cut out a rectangle, slightly away from the edge (about 1 cm around the entire perimeter).

WITH reverse side Grooves for decoration holders are glued to the bottom rail of the screen. We used a cocktail straw, cut into pieces about 3 cm long.

We stretch the fabric and attach it with wallpaper nails. The smoother the canvas is stretched, the clearer the contours of the figures will be.

Behind the screen, at a distance of about 25 cm, a light source is installed - a flashlight, a slide projector or a table lamp.

The direction of light is from above and behind, so the puppeteer’s hands will be invisible, and the shadows will be the clearest. The puppeteer's hands are located between the screen and the light source, and the puppeteer himself is located behind the light.

Tips for a puppeteer

For first impressions, choose simple stories from folk tales.
Rehearse well and learn the secrets of shadow theater before performing.
If you want a puppet or decoration to disappear or appear unnoticeably, turn it so that its edge is facing the screen and move it.
Arrange the dolls in order, and then during the performance the audience will not have to wait long for the “artist” to come out.
During the performance, play appropriate music.
Voice each doll with “her” voice.
By moving the light source, you will achieve different effects - depict wind, storm or snow.
You can play shadow theater wherever there is bright light and a flat wall. Instead of dolls there are finger figurines.

Children immediately fall in love with the shadow theater. First, they enthusiastically watch the performances, and then begin to invent the plot themselves. Let, regardless of whether the child has directorial abilities or not, an ovation always awaits him at home.

annotation:
This amazing game book turns into a real one table theater, where stories are played out by unusual actors - shadows.
In it you will find:
Folding shadow theater stage;
Set for cutting out silhouette images of characters and scenery for two theatrical productions, created based on the works of the wonderful artist Elisabeth Boehm;
Two famous fairy tales, presented in the form of plays;
New interesting ideas!

Create your own production! Choose a fairy tale that you would like to see on stage or come up with your own own story. Divide it into several parts (scenes), think over the dialogues of the characters. Use the decorations and silhouettes from this set or create your own. Creating new characters is not difficult at all. If you don't have black cardstock, draw on white, and then simply paint over the silhouette with black paint. Try using different materials to decorate your scenery or characters: feathers, lace, cloth, colored tissue paper.

The room is dark and only small rustles of final preparations can be heard, when suddenly the light comes on. He hits the screen white sheet. Dad last time clears his throat, and the first silhouette appears on the stage. And the fairy tale comes to life...

Shadow theater- This is a great way to put on a magical show, keep children occupied and calm, develop a child's imagination, or simply put a child to sleep. At the same time, the baby’s imagination works at 100, because in the silhouette the child will try to guess the grandmother, the dog or the mouse. A gentle and familiar voice from behind the scenes tells a story about distant (or not so distant) countries, about children and animals, about good, evil and real magic. And all this can be done with your own hands from available materials in just 15 minutes.

You can organize a stage for a shadow theater from an old box and cut out the silhouettes of the main characters from it, turn on the lamp and the fairy tale will come to life right before your eyes. So let's get started.

1. Making a scene

At the bottom of the old box we outline a rectangle for the screen.

The outline does not have to be rectangular. The edges can be rounded and decorative patterns can be added. This will give the shadow theater box an absolutely magical look.

Cut a hole.

We paint this holey box (this step is optional, but it will look neater this way).

On the inside we glue a sheet of paper slightly larger than the hole in size.

2. Hero on a stick

We draw fairy tale characters on a sheet of paper, or better yet, print out ready-made templates.

We cut out the characters and paste them onto cardboard of any thickness. We cut out the silhouettes and fix them on a stick. Electrical tape, glue gun or tape are suitable for this. I used electrical tape and a glue gun just to be sure)

I used skewers, but popsicle sticks, old pencil leads, or pencils also work well.

We also prepare the scenery (the environment surrounding the characters). To do this, simply cut them out of cardboard of any density. The thicker the decorations, the more difficult it will be to cut them out, and the easier it will be to fix them on the screen.

3.Lifehacks

• securing decorations

You can attach strips of cardboard around the perimeter, in which it will be convenient to fix the decorations. That's it, the stage for the shadow theater is ready.

• hole at the bottom

The further the characters are from the screen, the blurrier their silhouettes appear. To keep the stage stable but still have backstage access, I made a hole in the support wall. Thus, the heroes became closer to the screen, and it became easier to control them.

• mount heroes

It is almost impossible to hold all the heroes in one hand. Even with the “Pockmarked Hen” it was a bit difficult. In order not to hold inactive characters in your hand, we will make small cuts at the base of the scene. These cuts will hold the heroes well on small skewers. If you use popsicle sticks, for example, the cuts will be slightly different.

4. Putting on a show

The do-it-yourself shadow theater is almost ready, all that remains is to install our structure. We put a lamp behind and point it at the screen. And then we follow the script and become production directors.

For your convenience, I have prepared several templates for the very first and easiest to stage fairy tales. And for the fairy tales “Kolobok” and “Teremok” you will find excellent texts in verse there.

Here is one of our first productions. It clearly shows how difficult it was to manage the heroes before.

Have a magical evening!

Children are great dreamers and storytellers, capable of inventing many incredible stories, and see the magic in every little thing. And the child will remember the opportunity to participate in the creation of a theatrical performance based on his own plot for the rest of his life. Take your time: make your own shadow theater for children - stencils for first performances and useful practical advice you will find in our article.

Where does shadow theater come from?

The art of shadow performances originated in Asia approximately 1,700 years ago. It is difficult to name the exact place, but traditionally it is considered to be China, where they still honor a beautiful legend about the emergence of the first shadow theater:

Once upon a time, one of the ancient Chinese emperors experienced grief - a serious illness took the life of his beloved wife. The widower was inconsolable. Forgetting about government affairs, he retired to his chambers and refused to talk to his family. Deprived of a powerful hand, the mighty empire risked falling into decay.

The situation was saved by a smart courtier, who once called the emperor to the chambers of his deceased wife to show her silhouette behind the curtain. The shocked ruler silently watched as the shadow of his beloved moved behind the thin screen. Such performances became an evening tradition and gradually the emperor’s melancholy left him, because he realized: death is like this thin fabric barrier, it only temporarily separated him from his beloved, and they will meet again in another life.

History is silent about the fate of the courtier who created the first shadow theater with his own hands. But it is known for certain that such ideas quickly became popular in all social circles, and their geography over several centuries covered all of China, India, Turkey, and a little later Europe and Russia.

Shadow theater has survived to this day almost unchanged: the staging of light and the mobility of graceful silhouettes are still the same. But if now it is easy to find and print simple stencils for home performances, then in the past select craftsmen were engaged in making dolls. They made it with their own hands donkey skins, from which the figures were cut out. The dolls were decorated with fine paintings and worked out to the smallest detail.

The puppets for the shadow theater were not very tall; usually their height was about 30 cm. However, the complexity of the productions is amazing: up to 1000 figures were involved in one performance, controlled by puppeteers using long rods. The play of light and shadow, the movement of silhouettes to music and an exciting plot: shadow theater remains a favorite form of art for children and adults all over the world. It’s easy to experience beauty by printing out stencils and making a shadow theater with your own hands.

The benefits of shadow theater for children

The brightness and dynamics of the shadow theater scenery have a positive effect on the child’s psyche. But the joy of participating in a performance is far from the only plus of shadow stops; there are several more important ones for general development moments:

• The very atmosphere necessary for the shadow theater show is relaxing and sets the mood for intimate communication. Twilight and the expectation of some kind of sacrament - this is so similar to the gatherings around the fire that many people remember;
• The heroes of the productions have a conventional appearance, only the silhouette is determined. To understand full picture what is happening, you need to use your imagination;
• Shadow theater gives children a chance to try themselves in new role, stimulates the desire for self-expression and simplifies social adaptation;
• The need to remember the plot and lines trains attention and concentration. For children, participation in shadow theater performances will be in a good way replenish lexicon, develop speech;
• Controlling the dolls is stimulating fine motor skills, teaches to coordinate hand movements.

Of course, you shouldn’t demand a lot from kids right away. Let them master the skill first role-playing game, no plot. Let children have plenty of fun with the stenciled figures, learn how to control them and voice them. Perhaps children will soon have their favorite characters, which will give a new impetus to their imagination - inventing stories for impressive characters is always more interesting.

Essentially, a shadow theater is a properly lit fabric screen and a set of figures. The screen is easy to make with your own hands:

1. Cut a wide rectangular frame from thick cardboard;
2. Take a piece of thin white fabric, cut out a rectangle that exactly matches the size of the outer edges of the frame;
3. Carefully glue the fabric onto the cardboard, avoiding wrinkles. The screen should be well stretched. You can use regular PVA or Moment glue.

A curtain made of thick material can be attached to the front of the screen to open and close it, just like in a real theater. It is important that the curtain material slides freely, so use a smooth synthetic cord as a fastener.

Think in advance where exactly in your home it is best to place the shadow theater so that you can set the light correctly. The lighting source should be located above and behind the screen, then only the silhouettes of the dolls will be visible on the fabric, and the puppeteer himself will remain hidden from view.

The most crucial moment is working with stencils. To make them you will need:

• Thin cardboard;
• Paper or plastic tubes (can be replaced with long wooden skewers);
• Sheets of black paper;
• Glue gun;
• Scissors.

Possessing some artistic skills You can draw your own silhouettes the right heroes, but it’s much easier and faster to use ready-made stencils. You might like our selection.

So, let's start making the figures:

Don’t forget to take into account which side of the screen this or that character will appear during the action, so that the figure’s profile is turned in the desired direction.

Take care of creating decorations - stencils of trees, houses, fences, etc. will come in handy here. The decorations are tightly attached directly to the frame, for which purpose inside stretch the elastic band - it presses the stencil holders during the performance. If you need to increase the size of the shadow, move the doll away from the screen and the silhouette will become larger, but lose its clarity.

Don’t exclude children from preparing the props—working with stencils will only fuel their interest. At the same time, tell us about the history of this unusual looking art. Having made a shadow theater for children with your own hands, do not rush to throw away the stencils, you will still need them. Place the preparations in a paper envelope and quickly invite everyone in your household to an exciting performance.

Shadow theater for children usually means not only a theater with puppets, but also images of animal shadows using hands. Parents can amaze their child with animated pictures on the simplest wall.

History of shadow theater

Shadow theater is an art that originated many centuries ago. The richest and most famous were fond of it, because the puppets were made by hand from thin, well-dressed camel skin. Openwork dolls, animals and birds, painted by masters in all the colors of the rainbow, were expensive.

It was only in the 17th century that the French realized that the mystery of shadow theater, depicting unprecedented figures with their own hands, especially captivated children, so this art spread in just a couple of years in the form of a real role-playing game.

DIY animal shadows

Organizing a shadow theater at home couldn't be easier! There is nothing complicated about animal shadows; most often, just two hands are enough to see a bunny, dog or bird.

So, how to make eyeshadow with your own hands?

1. You will need a light wall or any large object, hung with a white sheet;
2. Sunlight or light from a bright lamp should shine directly on the wall, not from the side;
3. Approach the wall in such a way that your own shadow does not fall directly on the wall;
4. Fold your hands as shown in any of the pictures.

You can also bring animal shadows to life with your own hands! Move your fingers and your bunny will fold his ears and the bird will fly. Teach your child to draw shadows of animals; this will develop the baby’s motor skills and spatial thinking.