The Badge Archive

Shadow Puppet Show

Activity Description: Scouts create shadow puppets by tracing their own silhouettes and performing a short puppet show.

  • Fulfills Step 3 of GSUSA Brownie Art and Design badge requirements.
  • Fulfills Step 4 of GSUSA Junior Art and Design badge requirements.

Info Needed: Art composition is how artists arrange the different parts of their artwork, like shapes, colors, and lines, to make it look balanced and interesting. It’s like organizing a room so everything fits together nicely and catches your eye. Art composition is about the overall design and layout.

Info Needed: Space refers to the area around, between, and within objects in a piece of art. It can be positive space (the area occupied by objects) or negative space (the empty areas around and between objects).

Items Needed:

  • A large sheet of butcher paper or mural roll paper
  • Flashlight
  • Tape
  • Pencil
  • Scissors
  • Popsicle sticks, wooden dowels, or cardboard strips for puppet handles
  • Glue or strong tape for attaching handles
  • A dark room or corner for puppet testing

Instructions (Estimated Total Time: 25–30 min):

  1. Set Up the Tracing Station (5 min)
    • Tape a large sheet of butcher paper to a wall in a room that can be made dark.
    • Divide scouts into teams of 3–4.
  2. Create the Shadow Outlines (7–10 min)
    • One scout strikes a fun pose in front of the paper.
    • A teammate shines the flashlight at them to cast their shadow onto the paper.
    • Another scout carefully traces the shadow outline using a pencil.
  3. Cut and Reinforce the Puppets (7–8 min)
    • Scouts cut out their traced silhouettes.
    • Attach each cutout to a wide popsicle stick, dowel, or strip of cardboard using tape or glue.
    • For large or floppy cutouts, use two support sticks or add cardboard backing to keep it sturdy.
  4. Create Extra Puppets (3–5 min)
    • Use leftover paper to make other shadow shapes, like animals, props, or scenery.
  5. Shadow Puppet Show (5–7 min)
    • Scouts test their puppets in a dark space using a flashlight and wall.
    • Teams can perform quick, creative scenes using the puppets they made.
Tia Kennard