This was an amazing project. We had a little bit too much fun playing with these. The wonderful thing about making puppets of any kind is that they incorporate two of the threads of art that we cover in schools: Visual Art and Dramatic Arts.

In class we spent some time talking about the tradition of incredibly elaborate and beautiful Indonesian shadow puppets. I had not heard of this tradition before this class and was awestruck by the incredible characters that are created. The history and tradition could be examined in a class before embarking on the project both for a deeper understanding of the art and for inspiration. Seriously, Google Indonesian shadow puppets right now if you don’t know what I’m talking about. We’ll wait.

Done? Okay good. Here are some examples of ones we made. Less complicated. Still super fun.

One of the big elements that this project explores is that of positive and negative space. You could also talk about contrast, and drawing with light, which could be a neat intro to a photography unit.

As well, dramatic representations using puppets are a great way to encourage shy students to participate. By having a different character to speak through or act through, the pressure is taken off the person performing, which can be helpful at any age.

Other ways you might use shadow puppets: a twist on book reports; acting out skits in HACE, or any subject, really; as a gobo in a larger performance (be careful about fire safety here when you choose your materials/light source). Other ideas? Add them in the comments!