Study marine life and the science of light and shadows with kids, using these sea-themed shadow puppets! You can cut them yourself or buy a set.
Two years ago, I wrote about our first shadow puppet performance at home. Back then, our son was watching them, but as he has grown, he has naturally turned into an actor and a director. It has become a special part of his nighttime routine. It doesn’t happen daily. Sometimes, we have several evenings’ worth of shadow play in a row, and other times, we go for weeks without one. But whenever shadow friends appear in my son’s bedroom, it’s an exciting and happy time.
My son’s favourite shadow puppet sets are The Three Little Pigs, where he usually chooses the role of the wolf, and Goldilocks and the Three Bears, where he performs as Goldilocks. After we go through the plot, he often wants a few additional scenes where the wolf and pigs are dancing together, or the Bear family goes on a picnic.
As his stories have branched off further and further from the originals, I have come up with more shadow puppet characters that aren’t based on fairy tales. The ocean life shadow puppet set sprang from my son’s fascination with the underwater world. I knew he’d love to see a shark shadow lurking around his bedroom walls while little fish were hiding in the blue of his bed, and he sure did!
He’s been interested in marine life since he was a toddler, so it’s not a surprise that he’s seen and liked the movie Finding Nemo. He has probably watched it ten times, though I still haven’t dared to show him the beginning, where Nemo’s mother and all his siblings get eaten by a shark.
I started making this ocean life shadow puppet set a while back. Then I discovered that Finding Dory is coming to the theatres this summer and got excited. It seemed like a good time to finish my craft before delving into new aquatic adventures. And while our shadow puppet set is based on real animals and not on the cartoon, it isn’t a simple coincidence that you can see all of them in the Finding Nemo and Finding Dory movies. If your children want to make their own stories about the little clownfish and his friends, they certainly can!
The ocean life shadow puppet set includes the silhouettes of a clownfish, a blue tang, a Moorish idol, a great white shark, an octopus, a sea turtle, an eagle ray, a seahorse, and a star fish.
How to Cut the Shadow Puppets
You can cut the shadow puppet patterns using traditional tools (scissors and a hobby knife) or silhouette cutting machines (Silhouette or Cricut). The first takes a little longer but doesn’t require any special tools at all. The second is very easy and fast but requires an investment in a specialized machine.
Our designs for shadow puppets are saved in PNG format so that they can be used for either method.
Download the template here and cut your own
or
Buy the puppets already cut here!
How to Have a Shadow Play at Home
Two years ago, I wrote about how we stage shadow puppet shows with our homemade theatre. We still do it on occasion, but most often, we use nothing more than a flashlight. Then, we cast shadows right on the walls and the ceiling. It’s quite relaxing to lay by my little boy in his bedroom and watch the shadows move around. Dad joins us, too, with squeaky voices for little fellows and growls for big ones!
Yesterday, we tried the ocean shadow puppet set for the first time. My son made a little story, and we had a few games.
First, my son was determined to include the world map on the wall in his story. The shadow characters travelled and had adventures in different parts of the world. The shadow clown fish visited its relative in Australia, and the shark had a trip around all four of the oceans. The map worked with animal shadow puppets very well, and I can see us using them together more when Budster gets interested in geography.
Another aspect of shadow play that I find fascinating is experimenting with light. If we hold the puppet further from the flashlight, it casts a crisp but small silhouette. Closer to the flashlight, the shadow is big but somewhat blurry. Simple enough, but the trick doesn’t get old.
Dangerous business – playing tag with a shark! I had a shadow puppet of a fish, and my son was chasing it with the shark. There were lots of giggles, albeit not from the fish.
With silent shadows gliding around the room, it’s usually a quiet and peaceful time of heavy eyelids and falling asleep… But not when my ever-energetic son is involved. Instead, he included a bit of a workout in the end, sticking his legs up against the octopus’ eight shadow tentacles. My son announced that he was comparing them together. He has a way to go if he is an aspiring octopod!
We love shadow puppets. They’re good for retelling stories from books and they’re even better for making our own rambling tales. I hope you share our pleasant experience!
You can buy the ocean life shadow puppet set cut from our store or get the template and cut it yourself!
More Shadow Puppets
Check out our collection of printable shadow puppets, or order one of the shadow puppet sets that have already been cut!
Little Red Riding Hood: Shadow Puppets
These shadow puppets will let your kids make their version of Little Red Riding Hood and stage a shadow play at home or in the classroom!
Nursery Rhymes: Shadow Puppets
Use these printable shadow puppets to stage a shadow puppet play for children, based on nursery rhymes - Little Miss Muffet, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Itsy Bitsy Spiders, and others!
Beauty and the Beast: Shadow Puppets
Inspired by the Beauty and the Beast fairy-tale, these printable shadow puppets will let the kids tell their version of the “tale as old as time.
Butterflies: Colourful Shadow Puppets
Learn an easy way to make colourful shadow puppets with kids! Making a set of vibrant butterfly shadow puppets and playing with light and shadows will be a great nature STEM project.
Moon Festival: Shadow Puppets
Celebrate the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival by staging a shadow puppet show based on the Chinese Moon legend that explains the origins and traditions of the festival.
Town Mouse and Country Mouse: Shadow Puppets
Using these printable shadow puppets, you can stage a shadow puppet play, based on the popular fairy-tale The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse!
Social Stories with Shadow Puppets
Prepare children for new social experiences, such as by making social stories and acting them out with shadow puppets!
I love this Ocean Life Shadow Puppet Set , seems amazing . Thanks for sharing this one with us.