Monkeytail & Wellington is an online shop created by a stay-at-home mother named Vicky and dedicated for kids of all ages. The products aim to “celebrate kids being kids”, with fun themes for parties, games, and all-around fun. Popular brands take their stall on this site, but so do indie brands and designers working exclusively for Monkeytail & Wellington.

A particular product that caught my fancy in Monkeytail & Wellington’s delightful gallery is their collection of shadow puppets.

Puppets are timeless, even college professors want to see a class do a puppet play for a reporting once in a while, but I’ve grown out of putting my hands in a sock and sticking my fingers through heads and limbs. Seeing shadow puppets made for kids in Monkeytail & Wellington really lifted my spirits. I had loved the Indonesian shadow puppet theater, called Wayang, ever since our group report in an art class in college. Puppets are made flat and segmented for mobility through sticks glued on the limbs and other movable parts.

Monkeytail & Wellington’s shadow puppets are cut from sturdy matboard, assuring a long survival even from nitpicky hands. Though not as intricately detailed as the wayangs, these shadow puppets have movable parts depending on the character, such as the arms of the yeti or the wings of the fairy.

Monkeytail & Wellington’s shadow puppets come individually or in a set with a landscape. Choose your character, will he or she be a mermaid? A robot? A yeti? Or something else? And if you’re not the do-it-yourself type of person, pre-made landscapes are available to set the stage for your play. The landscape has wood base; the puppets and landscape parts can be pulled off the base for easier flat storage.

Now there’s an additional clever reason to turn off the lights and save electricity. Kids won’t have to be afraid of the dark anymore.

Say goodbye to your sock puppets and walk into the theater of Monkeytail & Wellington.

Give bedtime reading a rest and find your story here.