The All-Time Favorite! 2017-05-30T03:16:11+00:00

Swallow a Rat!

The most famous lantern slide is “The Ratcatcher.” You can see a video of the Ratcatcher in action by clicking here.

To make your Ratcatcher, draw a base picture of a man asleep on a bed, but leave off his chin, just as you left off the eyes of the man before. On a slipper, draw the chin with a heavy dark beard, and position it on your man’s face. Tape the slipper loosely in the corner at the “chin end” of the freezer bag or acetate, so you can work the chin up and down and make the man snore. On a second long panoramic slipper, draw a dark rat in such a position that it runs into the man’s mouth when you push in the slipper.

If you are using a plastic bag for a slide, make the slipper long enough to stick out of the head end of the slide, so you can control it. (For this one it really helps to use acetate rather than a freezer bag. It’s just hard to make the freezer bag behave. But if the rat runs around the bed because the bag wrinkles, that just adds to the drama.)

To make the slide work, move the jaw up and down with one hand, snore hard, and, with the other hand, make the rat run out and into the man’s mouth.  So gross! Soooo much fun!

Create a Show!

Now, you’re all set.  Put your existing slides together and create a little show.  For a longer show, add more slides to illustrate your favorite stories and songs.   Have a great time! 

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