Join the Flying Squid for some Shadow Puppetery!

You can learn more about #TheFlyingSquidChallenge project here.
List of all the Challenges that we have posted so far.

The Flying Squid Challenge #11

With the help of your squids, take some cardboard and cut out some cool shapes.

They can be abstract shapes, flowers, trains, dinosaurs, buildings, the Flying Squid…

Don’t forget to make holes in the key parts of your shapes: the animal’s eyes, the car windows, etc. This will help add more detail to the shadow puppets. 

Before going to sleep, switch off the bedroom lights and use a lantern, or your phone’s light to project the shadows of the cutout shapes on the wall or ceiling. Invent a story and play it out, then ask your squid(s) to do the same.

If you can’t find heavy cardboard, alternatively, you can use cereal boxes or stick several scraps of paper together. You can also find different shape-making objects in your house: forks, combs, cloth, etc. You can create cool shadow shapes with almost anything, even your own hands!

Here’s a great tip: chopsticks are great tools because you can tape them onto the cutouts; you can move them around and create great puppet shows without blocking the light with your hands. 

I don’t know about you, but I’m well into my forties and I still gasp with amazement at the cool shadow puppet shows that my little squids create for me. Never underestimate the power of a good, pristine shadow to tell a story.

Chopito, Naru and Lemmy the sheep, making a shadow puppet show.

Tentacles are great for making interesting shadows.

Don’t forget to share pictures of your children’s activities with your loved ones. Please tag them: #TheFlyingSquidChallenge. We’d love to see them too. Remember, sharing this challenge with other parents in your network will give you bonus points!