I have been thinking lately about free gifts that are not only easy to make but will actually be appreciated by kids. Fortunately, my kids are willing to be the testers for some of these ideas.
Yesterday, I shared part one for making a free puppet playhouse. It took you through getting the basic playhouse put together. The next steps are to add the details and the decoration.
Go ahead and decorate your playhouse with paints. Acrylic paints work well, but you can use tempera paint for safety if the kids are painting it with you (covering the playhouse with paper first will help the tempera paint appear brighter) or even house paint that you might already have around.
After painting the playhouse, add in special details with marker such as a name for the theater, a clock (or make a movable one with a paper plate, paper hangs and paper fasteners), etc.
Next, you will need to make a curtain for your stage. You can leave the curtain out, but I think it really adds something to the playhouse. The easiest way I have found to do this is to take a simple piece of fabric (an old pillow case or sheet will work well). You can decorate the fabric with fabric markers to give it some style and personalization.
Measure your stage opening and cut the fabric to size, leaving a couple of extra inches on each side. Cut the curtain into two pieces. Hem the bottom of the curtain and then attach both pieces of the top of the curtain to the inside of the box, at the top of the stage. Hot glue works well, and while you won’t be able to slide the curtain, you can tie the sides back for the performance. Use two scrap strips of material for the tie backs.
Great. Now all you have to do is to create some puppets!
You can read more blog posts by Mary Ann Romans here!
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