A parrot repeats everything a shy puppet says, only louder.Puppets: a parrot, a shy sock. Prop: a perch. The parrot says the thank you she could not.
Five chicks are fed one worm at a time, and the fifth keeps moving up the row to be fed twice.Puppets: five chicks, a parent on the other hand. Prop: a worm of yarn.
A giant's boot blocks the road, and two travelers must decide whether to knock on it.Puppets: two travelers. Prop: one very large boot. Something inside it is snoring.
A baby elephant will not take a bath until the bath is offered to somebody else.Puppets: a small elephant, a mother, a duck. Prop: a sponge.
A baker makes one bun, and three customers arrive at once.Puppets: a baker, a goose, a pig. Prop: a bun. It pulls apart in three, and the baker goes without.
A bear cannot open the honey jar, and a mouse offers to help for half.Puppets: a bear, a mouse. Prop: a jar. The mouse gets the audience to shout twist.
A cat and a dog are told to share one blanket on a cold night.Puppets: a cat, a dog. Prop: a blanket. The tug of war ends with both asleep in the middle.
A chef and a mouse reach for the last piece of cheese at the same moment.Puppets: a chef, a mouse. Prop: cheese. One cuts and the other chooses.
A crocodile wants to learn to hug, and nobody will stand close enough to teach him.Puppets: a crocodile, a frog. Prop: a pillow to practice on.
A farmer plants a seed, and a crow keeps digging it up to see how it is doing.Puppets: a farmer, a crow. Prop: a seed, then a flower that pops up behind them both.
A fox and a hen both find the same egg, and each is sure it is theirs to look after.Puppets: a fox, a hen. Prop: one egg, passed back and forth until it hatches a duck.
A frog finds a ball and does not know what it is for until it bounces back.Puppets: a frog, a rabbit. Prop: a ball, tossed from one hand to the other.
A giant's boot blocks the road, and two travelers must decide whether to knock on it.Puppets: two travelers. Prop: one very large boot. Something inside it is snoring.
A grandmother knits a scarf that will not stop getting longer.Puppets: a grandmother, a cat. Prop: a scarf pulled up from below, hand over hand.
A king loses his crown, and the cook has been using it as a pot lid.Puppets: a king, a cook. Prop: a crown that fits the soup pot exactly.
A knight is sent to fetch a dragon's tooth, and the dragon has a loose one she would like out.Puppets: a knight, a dragon. Prop: a tooth on a string.
A little monster has a present for a friend and cannot stop opening it to check.Puppets: a small monster, a friend. Prop: a box, with less wrapping each time.
A mail carrier has one parcel with no name on it, and everyone he asks hopes it is for them.Puppets: a mail carrier, a pig, a goat. Prop: a parcel. Inside is a smaller parcel, and inside that another.
A monkey takes the zookeeper's hat and will not give it back until he is asked the right way.Puppets: a monkey, a zookeeper. Prop: a hat. What works is saying please in monkey.
A pirate is seasick and has to captain the ship from the beach.Puppets: a pirate, a parrot. Prop: a telescope. The parrot sails the ship past, and waves.
A rabbit carries a carrot home, and it gets shorter every time a friend says hello.Puppets: a rabbit, two friends in turn. Prop: three carrots, each smaller than the last.
A sheep cannot get to sleep, because counting sheep is just her family.Puppets: a sheep, a farmer. Prop: a pillow. She counts the audience and nods off at five.
A snowman wants to see the summer, and a robin offers to bring him a piece of it.Puppets: a snowman, a robin. Prop: one flower, carried a long way.
A squirrel hides a nut so well that she has to hire a detective.Puppets: a squirrel, a mole in a hat. Prop: a nut. It is under the detective's hat.
A tortoise is invited to a party next door and sets out the day before.Puppets: a tortoise, a mole. Prop: a present. He arrives as the cake is cut.
A wolf knocks at a door to give back a borrowed umbrella, and nobody believes that is all he wants.Puppets: a wolf, a goat. Prop: an umbrella. He leaves it open on the step, just as the rain starts.
Two dogs find one stick, and neither will let go.Puppets: two dogs. Prop: a stick. It snaps, and now there are two sticks.
Two neighbors each sweep their leaves onto the other's side of the stage.Puppets: a hedgehog, a badger. Prop: a broom, shared in the end to sweep both sides.
Finger puppets 25
A band of five has four players and a conductor who secretly wants the drum.Puppets: four players, a conductor. Prop: a drum. They swap for one song.
A family of five goes to bed in order of size, and the smallest is not tired.Puppets: five in nightcaps. Prop: a blanket. The smallest hums the other four to sleep.
A teacher counts her class onto the bus and keeps getting one too few.Puppets: a teacher, four pupils. Prop: a bus cut from a box. The one missing is waving at the back.
Five acorns agree to fall on the same day, and one loses its nerve.Puppets: five acorns. Prop: a branch. A breeze settles it, gently.
Five ants carry a crumb, and the one at the back is carrying nothing and giving all the orders.Puppets: five ants. Prop: a crumb. The four in front put it down.
Five bees come home to the hive, and one has brought a snail to live with them.Puppets: five bees. Prop: a snail. It is slow, and very good at guarding the door.
Five birds on a wire each sing one note, and the tune only works in the right order.Puppets: five birds. Prop: a wire. The audience helps put them in order.
Five candles on a birthday cake argue about who will be blown out first.Puppets: five candles. Prop: a cake. They go out together, in one puff.
Five chicks are fed one worm at a time, and the fifth keeps moving up the row to be fed twice.Puppets: five chicks, a parent on the other hand. Prop: a worm of yarn.
Five children line up by height for a photograph, and the middle one has grown since last time.Puppets: five children. Prop: a camera. The row is rebuilt three times.
Five explorers climb to the top of a hill that turns out to be a knee.Puppets: five explorers. Prop: a blanket over the knee. The hill laughs.
Five fish swim in a line, and when the first turns round the last becomes the leader.Puppets: five fish. Prop: a strip of blue paper. The new leader has no idea where to go.
Five friends squeeze under one umbrella, and it only starts raining when the last one is in.Puppets: five friends. Prop: a paper umbrella. The rain is the audience drumming its fingers.
Five hens share one perch, and the fifth always arrives last and wants the middle.Puppets: five hens on one hand. Prop: a perch. The whole row shuffles along, every time.
Five kittens have four saucers, and nobody will say who took whose.Puppets: five kittens. Prop: four saucers. The biggest saucer holds two.
Five ladybugs line up to cross a leaf, and the leaf will hold only four.Puppets: five ladybugs. Prop: a leaf. The fifth remembers that she can fly.
Five mice plan to carry one strawberry home, and each has a different idea of where home is.Puppets: five mice. Prop: a strawberry. They eat it where they stand.
Five sheep line up for a haircut, and the fifth has heard that it tickles.Puppets: five sheep. Prop: paper shears. She giggles all the way through, and it spreads.
Five sisters each want to wear the one ring.Puppets: five sisters. Prop: a ring. It fits only the smallest, who gives out turns.
Five snowmen stand in a row as the sun comes out, and each decides what to be next.Puppets: five snowmen. Prop: a paper sun. A puddle, a cloud, rain, a river, and one stays in the shade.
Five stars come out one at a time, and the first is lonely until the second arrives.Puppets: five stars. Prop: a dark cloth. The audience counts them in.
Four fingers are friends, and the thumb, across the hand, wants to know how to join.Puppets: four friends, one thumb. Prop: a button that none of the four can lift without it.
Four frogs are sure the fifth frog is a leaf, because it has not moved all morning.Puppets: five frogs. Prop: a lily pad. The fifth one moves when a fly goes by.
Three guards face the wrong way while a mouse borrows the queen's crown for a nest.Puppets: three guards, a queen, a mouse. Prop: a crown. The queen likes the nest.
Two neighbors live on two hands and have never met, though their gardens touch.Puppets: one neighbor on each hand. Prop: a flower that grows on the line between.
Shadow puppets 25
A bird builds a nest one twig at a time, and the wind keeps taking the twigs.Puppets: a bird, a wind with a face. Prop: twigs. The wind is building a nest too.
A cat stalks a bird across the rooftops, and the bird is a weather vane.Puppets: a cat, a tin bird. Prop: a row of chimneys.
A caterpillar goes behind a leaf, and the audience is asked what will come out.Puppets: a caterpillar, a butterfly. Prop: a leaf, which hides the swap.
A dragon flies over a village and every house puts out its light, except one.Puppets: a dragon, a child. Prop: a window that stays lit. The dragon needed directions.
A fisherman pulls up a boot, then a kettle, then the plug of the sea.Puppets: a fisherman, a fish. Prop: a line. The fish asks him to put the plug back.
A giant strides across the screen and turns out to be a child standing close to the lamp.Puppets: a giant, a child. Prop: the lamp, carried off by its owner.
A girl plants a bean at bedtime, and by the end of the show it has grown off the top of the screen.Puppets: a girl, a bird. Prop: a paper vine fed up from below.
A hat blows off a head and lands with one animal after another, each sure of what it is for.Puppets: a walker, a bird, a frog. Prop: a hat that is a nest, then a boat.
A kite climbs higher than the birds and asks them how to get down.Puppets: a kite, a bird. Prop: a string that leads off the screen.
A lamplighter walks down the street lighting lamps, and something behind him puts them out.Puppets: a lamplighter, a bat. Prop: three lamps. The bat was only fanning past.
A mouse sets out to find who has been eating the moon, a little more each night.Puppets: a mouse, a moon in four shapes. Prop: a ladder. The moon grows back, and the mouse takes the credit.
A sailor rows to an island that gets up and swims away.Puppets: a sailor in a boat, a whale. Prop: a palm tree on the whale's back.
A ship sails across a calm sea, and something very long passes underneath it.Puppets: a ship, a sea serpent. Prop: waves. The serpent only wanted to see the lantern.
A small fish is chased by a bigger fish, which is chased by a bigger fish, which is afraid of small fish.Puppets: three fish in three sizes. Prop: one rock to chase round.
A snail sets out at dusk to watch the sunrise from the top of a wall.Puppets: a snail, a sun. Prop: a wall. The two reach the top at the same moment.
A spider lowers herself onto the stage, and everybody runs before she can say why she came.Puppets: a spider, two beetles. Prop: a thread. She came to return a dropped shoe.
A star falls into a pond, and the frogs must decide whether to keep it.Puppets: two frogs, a star. Prop: a pond. They throw it back up, on three.
A train crosses a bridge, and the troll underneath only wants it to stop rattling his cups.Puppets: a train, a troll. Prop: a bridge. The train learns to tiptoe.
A tree loses its leaves one by one while a bird decides whether to leave too.Puppets: a tree, a bird. Prop: leaves on threads. The bird stays to see the snow.
A wolf howls at the moon, and for once the moon howls back.Puppets: a wolf, a moon with a mouth. Prop: a hill.
An elephant plays hide and seek, and wherever she hides the screen shows her trunk.Puppets: an elephant, a mouse who seeks. Prop: a rock. The mouse pretends not to see.
An owl counts the night animals home and comes up one short.Puppets: an owl, a bat. Prop: a tree. The bat was hanging in it the whole time.
The moon comes down to the lake to find out who has been copying it.Puppets: a moon, a fish. Prop: a strip of waves. The fish introduces it to its reflection.
Night falls on a farm, and every animal's shadow is taller than the animal and twice as brave.Puppets: a hen, her long shadow, a fox. Prop: a fence. The fox meets the shadow first and leaves.
The sun and a cloud argue over who owns the afternoon.Puppets: a sun, a cloud. Prop: a small flower that needs both of them.
Sock puppets 25
A baby bird will not eat anything that is not purple.Puppets: a parent bird, a chick. Prop: three paper foods. The third is a plum.
A cow wants to join the choir, and every song comes out moo.Puppets: a cow, a choirmaster. Prop: a song sheet. The choir needed a low note.
A crocodile is the dentist's first patient and will not open wide.Puppets: a dentist, a crocodile. Prop: a giant toothbrush. It opens wide for a song.
A dog buries a bone and then cannot stop telling everyone where.Puppets: a dog, a cat. Prop: a bone. The cat keeps the secret better than he does.
A dragon with a cold sneezes every time he tries to say his own name.Puppets: a dragon, a doctor. Prop: a very large handkerchief.
A giraffe with a cold neck needs the longest scarf in the world.Puppets: a giraffe, a knitting sheep. Prop: a scarf wound round and round a long sock.
A goose is asked to give a speech and knows only one word of it.Puppets: a goose, a mayor. Prop: a ribbon to cut. Honk, said five ways, is enough.
A hungry sock is allowed one noodle, and the noodle does not end.Puppets: a sock, a cook. Prop: a ball of white yarn. The cook is at the other end, still making it.
A parrot repeats everything a shy puppet says, only louder.Puppets: a parrot, a shy sock. Prop: a perch. The parrot says the thank you she could not.
A puppet tells the same joke three times and forgets the ending each time.Puppets: a joker, a friend. Prop: a banana. The friend supplies an ending, and it is better.
A puppet who talks too fast is given one long word to slow down on.Puppets: a fast talker, a tortoise. Prop: a sign with the word on it. The tortoise says it first.
A singer opens her mouth for the big note and a yawn comes out instead.Puppets: a singer, a conductor. Prop: a baton. The audience yawns along, then sings.
A snake cannot hiss, only whistle, and wants to startle somebody just once.Puppets: a snake, a bird. Prop: a nest. The whistle brings every bird for a mile.
A sock is sure it is a glove and keeps asking where its fingers went.Puppets: a sock, a glove. Prop: a mitten to settle it. The glove wishes it had a mouth.
A sock puppet finds out what it is made of and goes looking for the foot.Puppets: a sock, a slipper. Prop: a shoebox. The slipper has not seen the foot in years either.
A sock puppet has the hiccups, and a friend tries three cures, each sillier than the last.Puppets: two socks. Prop: a cup of water. The hiccups stop, and start up in the friend.
A sock puppet interviews the audience for the job of best friend.Puppets: one sock, a second who applies last. Prop: a clipboard.
A sock puppet is so hungry that it eats the script, and the show has to go on without one.Puppets: two socks. Prop: a sheet of paper. The second sock makes the rest up.
A sock puppet learns the alphabet and gets stuck on the letter its own name starts with.Puppets: a pupil, a teacher. Prop: letter cards. The audience says it.
A very long snake does not know where its other end has gone.Puppets: a snake's head, its tail on the other hand. Prop: a log. The tail has opinions.
A whale swallows a boat by mistake and tries to give it back politely.Puppets: a whale, a sailor. Prop: a paper boat that fits in the mouth.
A worm pops up in the wrong garden and has to ask the way home without knowing his address.Puppets: a worm, a beetle. Prop: an apple with a hole in it. That is the address.
Two puppets share one voice and must take turns having it.Puppets: two socks. Prop: a bell rung to swap. One of them cheats by miming.
Two socks argue over which of them is the left one.Puppets: two socks. Prop: a foot cut from card. It fits both, which settles it.
Two socks of one pair meet after a year apart, one from the drawer and one from behind the dryer.Puppets: two matching socks. Prop: a laundry basket. One of them has all the stories.
How it works
These 100 puppet show story ideas are sized for a small stage: a few characters, one prop, and a problem that is solved before the audience fidgets. They are sorted by the kind of puppet that tells them best.
Read the full guide
Puppet story ideas for the puppet you have
A glove puppet has places for the fingers that work its arms, so the hand puppet plots give it something to hold: an egg, a jar, a blanket to tug. A sock puppet's mouth is the fold between heel and toe, with the thumb as the jaw, so it talks, yawns, sings and eats the script. Shadow puppets are flat cut-outs held between a light and a screen, which suits night scenes and outlines.
Finger puppet story telling ideas
Several finger puppets can be worn on one hand at once, so most of these 25 are stories about a row: five hens on one perch, five kittens with four saucers, a fifth chick who keeps moving up the line to be fed twice.
Give the audience one job: shout twist, put the birds in order, say the hard letter.
End on the prop: the stick snaps, the egg hatches, the bun pulls apart in three.
Questions and answers
What is a good story for a puppet show?
A short one, with one problem and one thing to hold. Two dogs find one stick and neither will let go. It snaps, and now there are two sticks. That is the whole show.
What is the easiest puppet show to put on?
A sock puppet one. A sock puppet can be used alone on the hand without a complex stage, and its plots are mostly talk: two socks argue over which is the left one, and a goose gives a speech made of one word.
How many puppets does a puppet show need?
Two are enough. Most plots here have two characters and none has more than three, apart from the finger puppet rows, where five sit on one hand.
What stories work for shadow puppets?
Ones that happen at night or turn on an outline. An elephant plays hide and seek and the screen shows her trunk wherever she hides; a cat stalks a bird across the rooftops, and the bird is a weather vane.