A magical open storybook under a starry sky

Experience the Magic

What kind of magic do you want to make?

My Puppet Journal

For Grownups - FAQs

Why We Built ShadowPuppets

A few weeks ago, we became parents. Our daughter, Z, arrived this year, and it changed how we see everything.

Almost right away, we started wondering how we could help her feel curious and excited to learn, not just entertained. We didn't want to just hand her a screen and hope for the best.

Then we remembered something simple. At night, we'd turn off the lights, grab a flashlight, and make shadow puppets on the wall. A bird. A dog. Something silly that made her laugh. It was nothing fancy, just our hands and a little bit of light, but it felt like real magic to her.

That memory is where ShadowPuppets came from. We wanted her hands to feel like the source of the magic, not a screen doing everything for her.

ShadowPuppets is free to play, because we never want cost to be the reason a child misses out. But if it brings your family even a little bit of the joy that flashlight brought ours, we'd be grateful for your support so we can keep creating more moments like this, safely and honestly, for kids everywhere.

We made this for Z. We're happy to share it with your family too.

Thank you for letting your kids make a little magic with their hands.

Unlock everything

All the puppets can already be discovered for free, any time, in Experience the Magic, and 5 of them are saved in your journal to keep. Your support helps us keep growing the character list with new puppets and adventures. Unlocking everything lets you save the rest of the puppets in your journal too, and read all of their stories. Feel free to request new characters or animals in the feedback section below, we would love to consider them for our next update. Thank you.

Pay whatever feels right, no set price.

Camera and privacy

ShadowPuppets uses your device's camera to detect hand shapes, so your child's gestures can bring puppets to life.

Do you store or save any videos or photos?
No. ShadowPuppets does not record, save, upload, or store any camera footage, images, or video. All hand tracking happens live, right on the device, and is never saved or sent anywhere.
Can anyone see the camera feed?
No. Nobody, including us, can access, view, or retrieve the camera feed. It stays on the local device and is never stored, it only uses hand tracking technology to recognize shapes. Once the app is closed, the camera turns off automatically.

Data and accounts

What happens when I save our book?
Saving your book keeps your child's discovered puppets, stars, and badges on this device, labeled with the email and optional child name you enter. We don't collect passwords, ad data, or location, and your child is never asked for any personal information.
Is ShadowPuppets COPPA compliant?
Yes. ShadowPuppets is built with children's privacy in mind and does not knowingly collect personal information from children. This grown-ups section is protected by a simple question so a child can't reach account or purchase settings on their own.

Feedback and contact

We want to hear your feedback, see if you have other ideas, or for you to just let us know you enjoy the app.

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Time for magic!

ShadowPuppets uses your camera to detect hand shapes, so gestures can bring puppets to life.

No video, photos, or camera footage are ever recorded, saved, uploaded, or stored. Hand tracking happens live on this device, and the camera turns off as soon as you leave.