~Tuesday Activities: Puppet Shows~

I've mentioned before that while Nick is in school we have at least one loooong day a week where it's "The Mommy Show" all day long.  Right now Tuesday and Thursday's are the longest days of the week.  (Next semester it will be Monday, but for the purpose of this series of posts I will call them Tuesday Activities.) I've tried to come up with exciting activities or special toys to keep us happy on those days and though I know they all aren't particularly original I thought I would do a series of posts about some of them. So let me begin with...

The Doorway Puppet Theatre!

A dear friend gifted this to us a few months back when preparing to move across country.  (We have been endearingly nicknamed the Goodwill Store by a friend because we have no problem taking in other people's hand-me-down clothes, toys, and furniture.  Call me cheap, but we have some really cool stuff thanks to hand-me-downs!)  This puppet stage fits perfectly in any standard size door and hangs with the use of tension rods for easy set-up and take down.  I was looking at the construction and I think it wouldn't be that hard to replicate, as it is made out of fleece or felt with simple sewing and cutting lines and raw edges.  We recieved a box of animal hand-puppets along with this stage, but I've also found them in the dollar section of Target.  Better yet, at a certain age we may make our own puppets out of popsicle sticks or paper bags or even old socks.  

My kids didn't completely understand the concept of putting on a puppet show with a story line but that will come in time.  They thought it was fun to play with the puppets with me and have conversations, making their puppets sing and dance.  I think the real trick to this activity is that this toy isn't out all the time it's a total novelty!  I'm thinking I'm going to have to pull this one out again sometime soon.