Tag Archives: craft

Tachi-e Puppets

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tach-i puppetsFlip the puppet back and forth to reveal a simple, dynamic story! This project was part of our library’s World Kamishibai Day performance. Called tachi-e (“standing pictures”), the puppets originate from 19th century Japan.

You’ll need:

  • 2 rectangles of white paper
  • 2 rectangles of black poster board
  • 1 pair of new, intact chopsticks
  • Scissors and glue for construction
  • Markers, pens, and color pencils for decorating
  • Hot glue

A tachi-e puppet is two sided. The first side is the puppet at rest, then quickly flip it to create a change. This Japanese lantern ghost was designed by artist Tara McGowan:

lantern ghost by tara mcgowanIt’s way cooler to see the puppet in action though…

https://vimeo.com/305833498

First, draw a 2-step sequential scene on 2 separate rectangles of white paper. Cut each drawing out, then glue each on a rectangle of black poster board (our rectangles were 5.5″ x 8.5″). Hot glue a pair of new, intact chopsticks to the back of the first poster board rectangle, then hot glue the second poster board rectangle on top of it. Twirl the stick to operate the puppet!

The kids had some great idea for puppets. I managed to snap a couple. A hatching chick…

chicken duo

A budding tree (with squirrels running up the trunk!)…

tree duoA very sweet butterfly…

butterfly duoA single fish that goes “Pop!” and turns into a school of fish…

fish duoAn exploding firework…

bam duoAnd a girl that duplicates into 5 girls!

girl duoIf that last one seems a little confusing, it was inspired by a kamishibai performance of Manmaru manma tantakatan (written by Fumiko Araki, and illustrated by Takuya Kusumi). It’s about a ninja boy who duplicates himself to foil a wicked serpent.

 

From Amazon

Lion-Hearted Hero

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lion hearted heroWhen a sneaky burglar strikes, it’s up to you and your lion companion to save the day! We made these simple oatmeal container lions, and then caught a story time crook.

We read How to Hide a Lion by Helen Stephens (Henry Holt, 2012). When a lion strolls into town to purchase a hat, the townspeople are less then pleased. Fortunately, a little girl named Iris isn’t afraid of the lion, and correctly recognizes him as a well-mannered friend. Hiding the lion, however, is a little difficult. And mom is VERY upset to discover him in the house. Hiding in town once more, the lion discovers and thwarts a robbery in progress. This act wins over everyone…except Iris, who already knew how fantastic her lion friend is!

You’ll need:

  • 1 large oatmeal container
  • Construction paper
  • 1 cone party hat
  • Scissors and tape/glue for construction
  • Markers for decorating
  • Hot glue

lion

We used construction paper and a large oatmeal container to create your lion. It’s easiest to use hot glue to attach the bottom legs, mane, tail, and eyes to the container. Tape and/or glue works for everything else! You can use black construction paper for the nose, or a bit of self-adhesive foam like we did. Draw the eyes with markers, or use wiggle eyes.

I set my phone to sound an alarm close to when the kids were finishing their lions. Then I announced that the library had just sent out an alert – a burglar was on the premises! The kids and their lions headed out to the library’s lobby, where Miss Melinda was hiding, dressed in black pants, jacket, and ski mask. She also had a big pillow case with a “$” on it. As Miss Melinda made a break for it across the lobby, the kids gave chase…

chasing miss melinda Eventually, she was cornered and tagged repeatedly by oatmeal container lions. Which, admittedly, was a first for her!

miss melinda and the lionsAfter the triumphant capture of the burglar, the kids returned to the program area to make hats for their lions (which is the reward he asks for in the book). These were cone party hats, cut down to 5″. The kids decorated them with stickers and a duck quill. Very snazzy.

lion hat

Merry Mixer

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mix it up

Even with practically zero prep and minimal supplies, this story time will get kids sharing and giggling at different crazy creature combinations. The silliness is endless!

We recommend reading I Saw a Bullfrog by Ellen Stern (Random House, 2003). Playful from the very start, this book takes kids through the twisted linguistics and hilarious illustrations of a bullfrog (bull head and frog body), rat snake (rat head and snake body), tiger shark (tiger head and shark body), and so on. At the very end, however, the author provides the actual illustrations and interesting information about the real mammals, reptiles, plants, insects, and birds depicted in the book.

You’ll need:

  • Paper plates (the sturdier the better)
  • Pencil, ruler, and scissors for construction
  • Markers for decorating

The key to getting this project to work? Making sure your creatures’ body sections ultimately mix and match with the other paper plates. In order to do this, use a ruler and a pencil to divide the bottom of each paper plates into 3 sections. Then make 2 little “notches” along each dividing line. I made my notches at 2″ and 4″ like so:

marked paper plateThat’s ALL the prep you need! Now draw your creatures on the plates (we went fantastical instead of realistic). Make sure the necks, bodies, and tails start and stop along the notches:

paper plate creaturesCut the paper plate along the pencil lines, resulting in 3 separate pieces. Have the kids walk around the room with their pieces, mixing and matching with others. The results are very funny…

mixed up creatureYou might wonder why we used paper plates instead of index cards or pieces of paper. We found the elevation of the paper plates nice to draw on, and the workspace just tall and wide enough for many forms of creatures. Also, the raised edges of the paper plates make it easy for little hands to pick up, manipulate, and match the pieces.