Ancestor Puppet Theater

4/27/2015

Putting on a puppet show is a fun, interactive way to engage young children in storytelling. Why not make those puppets and stories about family ancestors!

Supplies needed:
Small cardboard box (10.5" x 13.75" x 5")
Glue
Tape
Scissors (a box cutter is also helpful)
Popsicle sticks
Family photos
Computer with Internet access and printer
Scrap fabric and wooden dowel (optional)

This activity requires a bit more preparation on the part of the adult than many of the other activities featured on this blog. First, you will need family photos. These may be more recent photos of people your child(ren) know, or you may choose to use older photos of long-gone ancestors, which is what we did. I found full-length photos of my grandmother and her family members, but I honestly don't think most kids would care if you used torso or head shots.

I printed out these photos and glued each of them to an index card, in order to make them a little more sturdy. Then, I glued the photos onto popsicle sticks.

Ancestor Puppets

Next, I looked for background images to help us tell a story, and for this I turned to the Internet. First, I used Street View on Google Maps to find an image of the house in which this family lived during the late 1930s (about when these photos were taken). Then, I Googled around for other images that would help us tell a story. My grandmother and her sister worked for The May Company Department store in Cleveland, Ohio, and thanks to The Cleveland Memory Project I found an older image of the exterior of that building, as well as some interior images. I also found an image of a Cleveland streetcar, which was the main mode of transportation into the city at that time.

I printed out copies of the images onto normal computer paper, and taped them together in a line. These images would serve as the 'scenery' for our puppet show.

Puppet Theater Background Scenery

For the box, I used a small Amazon delivery box (13.75" x 10.5" x 5"). It was a great size because the paper backgrounds fit just about perfectly in it. Stand the box up on its side, and cut a vertical slit towards the back so that the backgrounds can slide through.

Ancestor Puppet Theater // GrowingLittleLeaves.com

Now, I added a wooden dowel with a scrap-fabric curtain to make it look more like a theater. This step is not necessary, but I will tell you that my kids LOVED it, and made them SO much more excited. (You may also choose to cut off those side flaps, but we found that they actually help the 'theater' to stand up better.)

Ancestor Puppet Theater

Now, it was time to play! We arranged the background images so that we could tell a story about my great-grandmother and her daughters going shopping. They started at their home and took the street car downtown to the department store. Inside the store, it was very crowded in the accessories department, but there were fewer shoppers in the shoe department. They bought some shoes. Then they met up with my great-grandfather, who had been at one of his Italian War Veterans meetings. They all got back on the street car and went home. The older the child, the more detailed you can be with your storytelling. Let the child run with it; my daughter remarked that she liked the clothes they wore back then. My son was much more interested in the concept of a streetcar than anything else. Whatever their interests, they're looking at family photos, learning about their ancestors, AND learning a little bit about what life was like in the 1930s and 40s.