Ideas
Creative Curriculum - Puppetry
31 May 2009
The following activity is an idea to combine art and drama to encourage children to create stories.
Aim: To create a character for a story.
Resources:Pens or pencils, three pieces of paper/child, news paper, one rod/child and staples or cellotape
Number in group: Whole group activity
Time: 45min+
Directions: Each child is to be given a pencil and paper. The children are to scribble patterns/shapes/doodles on the paper, encourage them to start seeing shapes that they can add to e.g. they might turn a circle into a flower, or a snowman. The scribbles can be coloured in, as the children desire. When the paper is finished, the children can pick a shape or object to turn into a puppet.
To make the puppet, the children should draw an outline of their shape on the second piece of paper e.g. the snowman. This should then be cut out and copied onto the third piece of paper. The puppet should then be coloured in and decorated as the children desire. Once the colouring is complete, children should staple half of their two piece of paper together. They should stuff the puppet with newspaper and then complete the stapling. Once the puppet is complete, a rod can be slotted into the bottom and a couple more staples added to hold it in place.
The children can then work together to create stories around their puppets e.g. where do they meet / what do they do together etc?
* For younger children you could replace staples with masking tape*
You were great and I really enjoyed the show. It looked great, just the variety of women all looking fabulous was very empowering, even before the first word was said. The Director picked the right voices for each of the monologues - you have to admit your monologue suited your vowels and demeanour.