For a super fun idea for Father’s Day, why not bring in some shadow puppets! You can talk about how the kids are little “shadows” of their father (or other male role models) while teaching a fun song for the holiday. Below are the adorable I See a Hero Shadow Puppets I came up with for teaching this song during Singing Time.
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I See a Hero Shadow Puppets
*Downloads are available at the bottom of the post when signed in!*
Supplies:
- Shadow Puppet Theater — See Directions Here!
- Scissors or craft knife
- Cardstock
- Tape
- Skewers, pencils, or straws
- Bedside lamp or large flashlight
Assembling the Shadow Puppets:
Print out the I See a Hero Shadow Puppets (at the bottom of this post). I highly recommend using cardstock as it will help give your puppets structure so they won’t bend.
You might also choose to laminate your puppets so they are easier to reuse and are nice and sturdy for use! The clear lamination will also let you cut out smaller details and then let those spots let the light through!
You’ll cut out each shape, leaving the black printed areas remaining. You might have to keep a few of the white areas, like around the pillar, but cut out as much of the white spaces as possible.
You can easily do this with a craft knife like this one! Just use your extra cardboard scraps as a cutting mat to protect your surface and carve around the white areas, and press gently and they’ll easy pop out, such as the eyes on the smiley face!
Then, attach the puppets to a pencil (or craft sticks, straws, skewers, etc). I buy this big pack of Ticonderoga Pencils a few times a year – they’re the best! You can reuse them as mini rhythm sticks or for a drumming lesson plan (like this one).
Head over to this post to see our step-by-step guide on How to Make an easy Shadow Puppet Theater!
How to Play I See a Hero Shadow Puppets
Sing through I See a Hero (flip chart) once before getting started.
Then, invite two children to come up and help you and pass out just the first 2 puppets. Tell them what their puppet represents (dream and hero) and have them add the puppet when they hear the word!
Turn on the light and then sing through the first verse. The kids will be LOVE seeing the puppets magically appear!
Now, add 2 more helper and sing through it again, continue until you have all 6 puppets added for the verse.
Switch helpers and sing through it again!
Now, switch to the chorus with the second set of puppets (7 total repeating 2 from the first set).
I See a Hero Shadow Puppets
Guide to Included Puppets
Verse 1:
- Sleeping = Did you dream
- Hero = You’d be a hero
- Globe = Change the world
- Thumbs up = It’s true
- Boy = World you changed is mine
- Glasses = Could see who I see
Chorus:
- Hero = I see a hero
- Flashlight = I see a light
- Man and child = By my side
- Star = I see a star
- Pointing finger = Showing the way
- Boy = Who I hope to be
- Baseball hat = Like you are to me
Bonus Hero Dads:
- Police Officer
- Astronaut
- Doctor
- Solider in the Army
- Construction Worker
Extension Activities for using the I See a Hero Shadow Puppets
- Let the kids pick one of the alternate hero dads! Add it to the puppet show. Then, everyone act like the hero during the song!
- Astronaut: pretend to fly
- Police officer: Jump on “hero”
- Construction: Patsch lap
- Army: Stand at attention
- Doctor: Clap following the beat
- Hold up the puppets (outside of the theater) in order. Raise them high when they hear their part of the song!
For more adorable shadow puppets, head over to see our Redeemer of Israel Shadow Puppets lesson plan!
I See a Hero Shadow Puppets Printable Lesson Plan & Cut-Out Puppets
This printable lesson plan has everything you need! A instruction guide for creating the puppets, supplies list, a guide to the puppets (so you know which lyrics they match with!) and ideas for how to play and fun extension activities.
You’ll also find 3 printable pages full of fun themed shadow puppets for I See a Hero! There are puppets for the full first verse and chorus (13 puppets!) Plus, a fun bonus page with “hero” dads!
To access the free in-post printables for this post, you’ll just need to create a free account or login with the Grow.me tool. Then, confirm by email and refresh the page and ALL my free printables will automatically unlock in every post!
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Did you use these fun I See a Hero Shadow Puppets in Primary? Let me know how it went in the comments! What other fun ideas do you have for adding on to this activity?
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