Spooky Printable Shadow Puppet Templates for Halloween

Taking a break from the more science-intensive Halloween STEM activities we’ve been doing this month, today, we played with spooky shadow puppet templates. This was a fun way to bring technology to the kids’ play and the templates were super-fun to make and play with!

I got the idea for this activity when my kids made their own shadow puppets a few months ago. Monkey made a dragon and they used pencils for the sticks to hold the puppets up. The kids played for quite some time with their little handmade puppets. There is something about shadows that delight kids in a slightly creepy way, which is perfect for this time of year!

If you love Halloween, don’t miss these super fun printable shadow puppet templates that make telling spooky stories a whole lot more fun!

How to Make Your Own Spooky Shadow Puppet Templates

What you’ll need:

Shadow puppet templates printable
Scissors
Cardstock paper
Printer
Bamboo skewers
High powered light (we used my light box lights)
Tape

First, get the shadow puppet templates from the Schooling a Monkey shop (they’re free!).

Print them onto cardstock paper and cut them out with scissors. If you cut out the eyes, the shadows come out even better.

Tape the skewers to the back of the puppets. This will make it easier to play with them in the light.

Turn on the light and shine it on a large, blank wall. We used our dining room wall. Turn off other lights for even more drama.

Take turns telling spooky stories as you play with the puppets.

My kids had a blast with these silly little puppets. Sometimes it is the simplest activities that are the best!

Add a STEM Element

This project becomes a STEM activity when you add elements of science, technology, engineering, and math to it. One way to transform this activity into a STEM activity is by having kids set up a stop-motion video of their puppet show, or by tracking how shadows move throughout the day by marking shadow progression every hour.