Long before books and screens, stories in Southern Africa traveled by voice, spoken around fires in the Kalahari, carried down from mountain villages thousands of feet above the clouds, passed on at riverbanks where the water itself was part of the telling. These are tales the San, Khoikhoi, and Basotho peoples of Southern Africa have told for generations. This shadow puppet set is a fun (and screen-free!) way to bring them right into your kids' hands.

What's Included

13 shadow puppets, each representing a character from a Southern African folktale, plus the five stories they come from:

Nanabolele

+ Warrior Princess (Thakáne)

+ Sea Dragon (Nanabolele)

Elephant and Tortoise

+ Elephant

+ Tortoise

+ Lion

+ Giraffe

+ Zebra

Why Hippos Live in Water

+ Hippo

+ Crocodile

Why the Tortoise Has No Hair On

+ Tortoise

+ Hare

Crocodile's Treason

+ Crocodile

+ Lion

+ Hyena

+ Baboon

+ Elephant

+ Snake

Also included is a digital storybook with the full retelling of each tale, so you can read the stories together before (or after) the show.

Great for Speech & Language Development

Retelling a story out loud is exactly the kind of play speech-language pathologists and early childhood teachers often reach for: giving each character their own voice, acting out what happens next, and putting events in the right order. Shadow puppets give kids a low-pressure, hands-on way to practice sequencing, vocabulary, and expressive language, all while having fun with a story.

Why These Stories Matter?

Most of the folktales kids grow up on come from Europe, and those are fun too! But we love introducing kids to a different cast of characters: clever tortoises, patient hippos, and a warrior sister brave enough to face down a river monster, from a storytelling tradition that stretches back tens of thousands of years across the San, Khoikhoi, and Basotho peoples of Southern Africa. Some of these tales survive today in only a handful of old, hard-to-find collections, so every time one gets told again, it gets to stick around a little longer.

**How to Use**

Just a flashlight, a plain wall or sheet, and your child's own two hands. It's a fun, screen-free activity for family story nights or a homeschool unit on Southern African geography, culture, and folklore.

Details

13 puppets, each between 2 - 6 inches wide and 2 - 4 inches long

Made from heavy card stock, doubled for strength

Includes a digital storybook (PDF), delivered instantly at checkout

Recommended for ages 0 - 111

Ships within 3 - 5 days