Cereal Box Puppet Theatre

Cereal Box Puppet Theatre is a brilliant way to reuse packaging and spark big-time imaginative play. With a little cutting and decorating, an ordinary cereal box becomes a charming puppet stage. Add in some paper finger puppets, and your child is ready to put on a full production!

From fairy tales and animal stories to silly made-up plots, this activity helps children explore storytelling, character creation, and performance. It’s an engaging mix of craft and pretend play—ideal for kids who love drama, drawing, or just being centre stage.

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Materials Needed

• Empty cereal box

• Construction paper or coloured card

• Scrap paper or white paper (for making puppets)

• Glue and/or tape

• Markers, crayons, or paints

• Optional: stickers, fabric scraps, buttons

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Tools Needed

• Scissors or craft knife (adult supervision required)

• Pencil

• Ruler (optional, for neat window edges)

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Steps

1. Cut the Stage: Stand the cereal box upright. Cut a large rectangle out of one broad side to create the “stage” window.

2. Decorate the Theatre: Cover the outside of the box with coloured paper or paint. Add curtains, stage lights, or signage!

3. Make Puppets: Draw characters on paper, cut them out, and tape them to fingers or use loops of paper to slip them on.

4. Rehearse and Perform: Create a simple story, assign characters, and put on a mini show!

5. Store Inside: Use the cereal box to store your puppets when the show’s over.

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Variations

• Stick Puppets: Tape your characters to craft sticks or straws instead of using fingers.

• Themed Theatre: Design the stage and puppets around a favourite book, holiday, or fairy tale.

• Shadow Puppet Theatre: Cut out puppets from black card and use a torch behind the box to cast shadows.

• Double-Sided Stage: Cut windows in both sides of the box so the audience can watch from either direction.