[Childcare] Paper theater ideas to use in activities—great for filling small gaps and for birthday parties
Here are some ideas for “paper puppet shows,” a familiar activity in nursery schools and kindergartens!
A paper puppet show is basically a paper doll theater.
You draw characters and other illustrations on two pieces of thick paper, attach a stick between them, and twirl the stick as you perform.
You can use it during short breaks in childcare or as a play for events, and it’s also great for activities that spark interest in food or help children enjoy songs more—the possibilities are endless!
Once you make one, you can use it anytime, which is another nice perk.
Enjoy a variety of paper puppet shows together with the children.
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[Childcare] Paper puppet show ideas to use in activities. Also great for filling small gaps or birthday parties (1–10)
Balloon Song
This is a paper puppet show for the song “Balloon Song,” filled with lots of colorful balloons that are fun to look at.
A red balloon floats up softly, and when you flip it over, an apple appears.
Prepare animals or foods on the back of each balloon that match the balloon’s color.
Children will be excited to guess what will appear for each color.
The gentle, cute depiction of floating balloons makes this especially recommended for infants.
If you make it larger, you can also use it as an opening for events like birthday parties.
Gluttonous Gorilla
This is a paper puppet show about a gluttonous gorilla who eats lots of delicious foods.
Up to a point, he happily munches away, but when it comes to the onion, he peels it too much and it disappears, so he can’t eat it… The gorilla’s face has a smile on one side and a crying face on the other.
Since you can peel many types of ingredients, you can make various arrangements—try incorporating things the teacher likes or the children’s favorites.
You could also create body parts to match and bring out more of the gorilla’s vibe!
The Three Little Pigs
Let’s perform the fairy tale “The Three Little Pigs” as a paper-puppet show.
Even if everyone knows the story, watching it as a play offers a different kind of enjoyment than reading it in a picture book.
Express lively movements for each pig, their respective houses, and the wolf.
If you make the pieces large, you can also use them for events like birthday parties.
The key is to draw clear lines and bold colors.
In the scene where the wolf blows the house down, it would be fun to have the children pretend to blow along too!
[Childcare] Paper puppet show ideas to include in activities. Great for filler time and birthday parties (11–20)
Mr. Ant on an errand
This is a paper puppet show (peep-show theater) set to the children’s song “Otsukai Arisan” (“The Errand Ants”).
Two little ants bump into each other in time with the song and scurry about busily.
If you add a simple storyline, you can enjoy it like a little play.
It also helps spark interest in words and familiar objects.
If you add more items, it can be used as a puppet show for birthday parties, too.
It’s also great fun to sing “Otsukai Arisan” together while you watch! After enjoying the puppet show, why not go outside and try looking for real ants?
The Giant Turnip
Let’s try performing the folktale “The Giant Turnip” with paper puppets.
It’s a cute story that children love.
In the tale, the grandfather can’t pull the turnip out by himself, so many people and animals appear, and everyone works together to pull it out.
It’s also fun to watch while wondering excitedly who will come out next.
You can move the story along by asking the children, “Who do you think will come out next?” Practice a lot so you can perform each character’s voice and speech style with rich expression!
The fish jumps.
Familiar from hand play, “Sakana ga Hanete” is arranged here as a paper puppet show! Not only can everyone enjoy singing along as the fish jumps and sticks to different parts of the body, transforming each time, but you can also use illustrations of items like hats, masks, and gloves to do a forgetfulness check.
With hand play, you express everything using only the song and your hands, but with a paper puppet show, you can perform while looking at pictures, which might help everyone picture each item more concretely.
Fruit Train
Let’s try the “Fruit Train,” which features lots of autumn foods.
As you sing and flap open the train paper, autumn foods like sweet potatoes, chestnuts, and grapes appear one after another.
When you finish unfolding it, it turns into a long train.
You can use not only autumn foods but foods from other seasons too! Incorporating items that appear in school lunches or fruits growing near the preschool can spark even more interest from the children.
As the train gets longer, the children are sure to show a wide range of expressions.