I love
puppets and we own quite a few. We have also cycled through a lot of
puppet theaters!
I love the tension rod in a doorway kind, but we don’t have any regular door openings on our main floor (except the bathroom and the laundry room both of which face hallways! ) so that idea was out. We used to have an entertainment center turned puppet theater which we all loved, but it took up a lot of room and kind of attracted a mess. Lately, my girls have been using the toy box to perch on as they put on a show over the back of the couch.
We needed something new!
Enter the PERFECT puppet theater!
This fun puppet theater solved all of our puppet theater problems! It is so versatile that you can’t help but love it. It’s cheap and easy to construct. It can easily be taken apart and stored. It can quickly be put back together. It’s lightweight and easy to move. It is also easy to change the size as your child grows or as the space you have for it changes.
Perfect!
Several years ago we bought actual plans to make a pvc pipe puppet theater, which we gave to the kindergarten teacher as a Christmas gift. While we still have the plans, there is no name indicating where they were bought from so I can’t give you a link. Luckily, if you do an internet search there are about 14 million results and you can easily find very detailed instructions for making one of these cool puppet theaters.
This puppet theater doesn’t follow the plans, but you will quickly realize they don’t have to!
I’ll explain how we made ours.
Materials
3 pvc pipes 10 feet each
8 pvc elbow joints
6 pvc T joints
pvc pipe cutter (optional, but well worth it)
spray paint
1 yard of fabric for top curtain
1 1/2 yards of fabric for bottom curtain
2 feet 5/8 inch ribbon
velcro – two 1/2 inch squares (hook and loop)
Instructions
Cut your pvc pipe to the appropriate lengths.
You can use mine as a guide for what you will need, but adjust to fit your needs.
3 - 36 inch pipes
8 - 22 inch pipes
2 - 15 inch pipes
2 - 8 inch pipes
2 - 3 inch pipes
Paint everything—pipes and all connectors.
Try not to get paint into the openings because it makes them smaller and the fit will be a little tighter. Be sure to get the edges of the connecting pieces though, since they will show.
HINT: Normally, this would be a snap, but the temperatures are still in the 30s these days so I had to be creative! I painted this stuff on a little dowel contraption my husband made for me. It is just a scrap board with holes for dowels. I used a paint can to weight it down so it didn’t tip with all of those dowels wagging around. I kept the materials and paint warm in the house, rushed out to the garage to paint and then hauled it in the house to dry. Very time consuming, very annoying, but very do-able!
Fit everything together
Make the curtains.
To make these, you will need 2 pieces (each 21 inches x 36 inches) for the top curtain and one piece (30 inches x 54 inches) (give or take a few inches—this will determine how gathered it is across the front) for the bottom curtain.
Serge, zig zag, or hem around the two shorts sides and the bottom of all pieces. For the top, fold over 1/4 inch (or serge) and fold over another 2 inches. Sew in place along the length. This will make the pocket for your curtain rod.
The top curtains will overlap the bottom curtain a few inches.
I also added tie backs for the curtains. My daughter doesn’t really use them, but they are easy for her to secure herself when she wants to use them.
Make tie backs for the curtains.
Sew or glue velcro squares to the ends of 12 inch piece of ribbon.
Be sure the velcro is on the front for one piece and the back for the other.
Sew center of ribbon to the outside side edge of each top curtain panel 8 inches from the top of the curtain.
Be sure to sew over the ribbon several times and sew past the ribbon a few stitches on either side. This will help keep it secure.
Open the top curtain to put on a show.
FYI…The sides, which are there to balance and support also make a great way to define (and confine!) the space, too!
This is always important when drama queens get a little carried away with their toys!
When you get tired of it, or want it out of your way for a while, or just want to change things up, you can take it all apart and store it away. Woo-hoo!!
Bring it out again when you have time, space or a need for it!
This puppet theater is so easy and fun!
Here’s to even more drama in our home!
And, as if that isn’t enough, join me later this week for MORE drama and versatility for this puppet theater!
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I love 
