My kids love Moana movie to such an extent that the older daughter learned by heart the legend of Maui, which Moana’s Grandma tells at the very beginning. I decided to take advantage of the situation and prepare a cardboard theater from so that my six-year-old could do the show about the legend of Maui. We made all the characters together out of perler beads.
Supplies for cardboard theater
- Cardboard box – preferably narrow with a rectangular front. I used the lego box.
- Colorful cardboard
- Penknife
- Scissors
- Paper glue
- Duct tape or hot glue
- Twine or ribbon
- Pencil
- Ruler
- Perler beads
- Skewer sticks
How to make a cardboard theater
If you have a color box, start by cutting it and reversing sides so that the theater is made of brown cardboard.
Then in the front part, which will serve as the front of the theater, draw a window leaving margins 4 cm wide. And in the back part cut the base evenly so that it does not disturb the actors. Leave the other sides as thick as the cardboard side walls and cut diagonally at the top corners so that they can be folded in.
Now fold the box and stick it with glue or tape. Bend the sides from the inside so that they are not visible from the front. Fasten with glue or tape.
The cardboard theater frame is ready, and the next step is to make curtains out of color cardboard. To do this, outline a plate on a red cardboard and cut out 2 fragments.
Then outline a glass along the cardboard to make the upper part of the curtain.
Glue all the elements to the front of the box and finally add bows in the folds of the curtains.
The cardboard theater is ready, so it’s time to prepare the decorations out of color cardboard. Hence the legend takes place in Polynesia I prepared the wave decor.
Making of perler beads figures
The last element of the performance are figures of characters that we made together with kids out of perler beads. For the the Maui legend show we have: ocean wave, goddess Te Fiti, heart of Te Fiti, life, Maui, hook, falcon, boat, demon Te Ka, darkness, kakamora and Moana. All figurines are of our design, although we only have the pattern for Moana. The sticks were attached to the figurines with hot glue.
Legend of Maui
I invite you to the Maui legend performance based on the tale of Moana by Disney. At the moment it’s available only in Polish.
Here you can read a very nice explanation which parts of Disney’s Maui story agree with true Polynesian legends.
Story about the chicken who got lost in the forest
With the cardboard theather, you can perform many shows together with your child. The scenery can be changed very quickly, and perler beads give great freedom in creating new figurines.
This set was made for a show about a chicken that got lost in the forest.
Check out our ideas
If you are looking for more ideas for playing with children, then you will find them in the DIY with children section.
Follow us in social media
If you want to be up-to-date with our newest posts, like our Facebook fanpage, follow us on Instagram and Pinterest.
Nothing gives more satisfaction than doing something yourself. I haven’t even thought about DIY as my hobby, I’ve just done different “projects” when it was needed. Sometimes it’s a disguise for the Masquerade Party in kindergarten. Another time, cutting out the pumpkin and baking the witch’s fingers for Haloween. Or simply organizing holiday souvenirs. Now I decided to share my realizations with you. Let’s go it together!
