Finger puppets, right? They’re spilling out of jars and baskets on toystore counters everywhere, but just try to find a finger puppet theater. Good news. You can make this great theater out of any cereal box and be open for business in about ten minutes.

It’s compact and sets up in an instant, but the genius part is that you get to design your actual puppet show. You choose how to decorate the theater, what shape the stage should be, and where to put it. Total creative control! Put the stage down low, or up high, or have more than one stage — then you can do a play about ants underground, or cloud characters up in the sky, or friends living in an apartment building. Your theater can do anything. You can even decorate more than one theater and have scenery changes.

Also, a simple square stage is very nice too.

Full how-to’s below. And here’s a short play you can do when your theater is ready.

• Make in minutes with any empty cereal box

• Decorate to match your puppet show - or enjoy using as-is

• Stores on a shelf, sets up instantly

• Let your kids run the show while you put your feet up and eat popcorn.

Steps At a Glance:

Ready? Here’s how:

1

You’ll need:

• any empty cereal box

• scissors

• tape

• a pin

• pencil

2

Open up the bottom of the box.

Open the side seam by gently separating the two sides. If the glue is stubborn try starting from the other end.

3

Find the big panel that sits between the two side panels and draw a giant letter T. Leave about 1/2” between the top of the T and the top of the box.

On the other big panel draw a rectangle for your stage leaving space as shown.

4

Cut off the bottom flaps, and cut out the stage. You can use a pin to make a starter hole for your scissors.

5

Tape the whole side seam closed from top to bottom.

Tip: I like to put the narrow glue flap underneath the bigger flap.

6

Turn your box over. Cut up the stem of the T, then out to each edge. Tip: Use just the tips of the scissors at first when making the side cuts.

Open up the wings of your theater.

7

Leave the top flap over the stage standing up, and tape the other three top flaps closed.

And your new theater is ready! Use it plain or decorate it. Another time you can try a different shape for your stage, putting your stage up high or down low, or even cutting out more than one stage in a single Cereal Box Theater. You could even have a different design of Cereal Box Theater for each scene in your play. You have total creative control! So many things to try! See even more ideas below.

Take a look at this post for tips on decorating brown paper boxes.

Questions

What if my box peels when I open the side seam?

No worries - it happens! The box I used for this post peeled pretty good and it didn’t matter. Just pull the bigger shreds away to clean up the edge.

If your box tears, that’s no problem either. Repair the rip with tape on both sides.

Can I decorate my theater while it’s flat?

Definitely! I recommend putting one together plain just to see how it works. Next time, try decorating while it’s flat and see which way you like better.

and try this:

Mix It Up

If you’ve got one or more friends or siblings handy, try trading jobs. Say you each come up a short play idea. Instead of making your own theater for your own play, you make the theater for someone else’s play. Then switch back or hand off to a third party to put on the show. Work it however makes it fun for you. Just like in the real theater world, it can be cool to see how someone else interprets your ideas.

If Plays Aren’t Your Thing

So many things can happen on a stage - it doesn’t have to be a play. Your finger puppet can:

• Tell jokes

• Give a serious or silly talk

• Tell a story of something that happened that day

• Sing or do karaoke

• Dance to music

• Interview another puppet, or an audience member

Thank you for reading! If you have questions, please drop me a line.