A brown paper package tied up with string? Check! It’s up to you and your partner, however, to guess what’s INSIDE the package!
We recommend reading Send It! by Don Carter (Roaring Brook Press, 2003). On Monday, a boy wraps, tapes, addresses, and mails a special package. Off it goes, traveling through the remaining days of the week (and from truck to boat to plane to train) until it arrives Sunday, just in time for the big birthday party!
You’ll need:
- A number of brown cardboard boxes, different sizes
- A number of objects to go inside the boxes
- Package labels to decorate (optional)
This project is very simple! Cut the top or back off a number of boxes. Put objects inside the boxes, but don’t let the story time kids or grown-ups see what the objects are.
Next, have kids partner up with another kid or a grown up. Ask the kids to reach inside the box and describe what they feel to their partners without actually saying the name of the object. The partner has to make the best guess as to what’s inside the box. Continue the game with multiple boxes.
If you’d like to add a little craft project to the story time, we found these old package labels in the office supply cabinet and used markers to decorate them. Or you can fashion your own using card stock, a hole punch, and string.
Teachers, parents, and librarians, lend me your ears! Today, I present Shadow Puppets Theater by Creativity for Kids, the one stop shop for hours of imaginative narration and story building. Get thee hence and acquire one!
The kit retails for around $20, and is intended for ages “6 to 96.” It contains a theater, a detachable chalkboard marquee, 1 piece of yellow chalk, stickers, rhinestones, 10 felt animal puppets, 2 felt people puppets with accessories, 15 metal brads for the jointed puppets, 12 puppet holders, 8 puppet sticks, and 2 LED lights (batteries included!).
One of the frustrating things about toy puppet theaters is how flimsy the stage is, and how the slightest nudge will send it tumbling. Not this one! It’s made out of very sturdy cardboard. A few basic folds, and the stage is ready to go, anchored in place with some very helpful velcro fasteners.
There’s also a detachable chalkboard marquee for the top, which is super cute. Also, unlike some of the cheaper cardboard chalkboards, the chalk wipes off cleanly and easily with a dry paper towel.
Also included are some terrific stickers and clear rhinestones (yes!) to decorate the front of the theater. They are easily removable, so you can change your theater’s look. The stage’s screen is thick, high quality, and securely mounted (because there’s nothing sadder then your screen buckling, tearing or falling off during a performance).
Their illumination power is fantastic. No matter what configuration we put the lights in, we got great shadows and and a well-lit screen.
The puppets? They totally rock. Look at them! The mouse! The owl! The happy pig!
I only have one quibble with this puppet theater kit. There are 12 puppets in the kit, but only 8 sticks! The instructions say to swap out the sticks during the show, but that somewhat breaks the flow. I made a couple extra out of a 
Fold 2 sparkle stems into a V shape, then tape them to the bottom of a bunched 10″ x 10″ square of cellophane, Secure with tape. Knot one end of a 10″ piece of clear beading cord around the bunch, then secure with tape. Repeat these steps to create a second firework. Color and cut the mother and baby dragon from the template, then tape them to the free ends of the firework cords.