A Puppet Theater From the Past
When I was about 9 or 10 years old, my Dad helped me build my puppet theater. We put a string of Christmas lights on the front of the stage and built a curtain to open and close for each performance. It seemed so real it was like I was the great producer of a real show.
I had a wonderful time making string puppets from cloth on an old sewing machine that my Mom let me use. It was an old pedal style sewing machine. I made the bodies from cloth and stuffing. The puppets had legs with knee joints and arms with elbow joints. The faces were just whatever I could design with crayons and marking pens but they were mine and I loved them. I made wigs with yarn and then set up the puppets with strings and cross sticks at the top.
Perhaps I didn’t have the most beautiful puppets but I was allowing my imagination to grow. Not only was I designing my own puppets, but I wrote plays and then acted them out. Even though my audience was only an occasional friend or my “biased” Mother, it was a whole lot of fun to do. There was so much satisfaction from being the “creator” of my own show.
Kids spend a lot of time on video games. Now, I did try one of these race car games recently and found that it was really hard to do. Although it certainly builds reaction ability, the creativity level was limited to car color and accessory choices. Then you sit like a robot in front of a TV screen tensed perhaps because you are not in first place in the race.
If you feel that your children need encouragement to do activities other than television, computers and video games, why not nudge them into an activity that requires thinking, imagining, and creating like doing their own puppet show. Spend some time with your child “imagination building!” You can see some of our “imagination builders” at our website when you click on the link below.
Elizabeth Schlee submitted this article. Elizabeth is a mother and aspiring entrepreneur. She loves artistic creativity and has found that her website is a wonderful place to express those creative ideas.
For more articles on the importance of reading and ideas for your children’s rooms, visit http://kidspaintedfurnitureshop.com
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How to Make Sock Puppets
If you are looking for easy craft ideas or kids crafts projects, here is an article on How To Make Sock Puppets. I co-teach a Puppet Theater class to children during the summer and thought it would be nice to share this project with others.
Basic Materials needed:
* One long, elbow length, patterned sock
* A 6″x8″ piece of cardboard or poster board (an old cereal box is suitable)
* Wiggle eyes
* Felt
* Yarn
* Old wine cork
* Glue Gun and glue sticks
* Sharpie or chalk
Step 1: Position the long sock so that the heel is is face down, and the sock is laying flat in the shape of a long rectangle.
Step 2: Draw a curved line with dark marker or chalk(depending on the color of your sock) under the sewn part of the toe of the sock. Cut along the curved line through both layers of the sock. This should leave you with a cutout in the sock that will roughly match the arch of your hand.
Step 3: On cardboard or poster board draw an oval that is 3 1/2″x5″. Cut out the oval. On pink felt trace around the oval so it is slightly larger than the cardboard cutout. Fold the cardboard shape in half and with hot glue adhere the oval cutout along the inside opening you cut out by the toe of the sock.
Step 4: Once the glue has dried glue the pink felt mouth shape to the cardboard mouth shape, completely covering the cardboard.
Step 5: Begin decorating your puppet!!! Place your hand and arm into the sock first, so you can see where to design the face. The heel of the sock should be on the top of your wrist, otherwise it will look like your puppet has a sagging neck.
Miscellaneous Tips:
It’s good to think of character traits before beginning your puppet so the features match the personality. My puppet is a horse, very girlie, and quirky, maybe even a bit nerdy. Can you find the visual clues on my puppet that describe those traits of her personality?
* To create the eyes I cut 1/4″ pieces off a wine cork. This works great in helping the eyes stand up. You could also use cotton balls or pom-poms.
* Use felt, yarn, or even hair extensions to create hair for your puppet.
* Add a tongue or teeth to your puppet. If you create a shark maybe your teeth should be sharp!
Felt may also be used to create ears on your puppet. If you want the ears of your puppet to stand up straight, glue a piece of cardboard between two pieces of felt in the shape of the puppets ears.
That’s it! Hope this was helpful and have a great time with your new friend!
Kimberly Bylo is the owner of Love Life Live Life, handcrafted beaded jewelry and making beaded jewelry, and is an artist, a designer and a teacher. She also created the Beaded Jewelry Necklaces Blog and contributes regularly to all of her sites.
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Using Puppets For Self Expression
Puppets are one of those wonderful inventions that have been around for aeons but continue to delight and engage kids centuries later.
Who would think that putting a couple of buttons on a funny sock, sticking it on your hands and making funny noises could be so fun. But kids love puppets. They love watching puppets and they love playing with puppets.
The success of Children’s Television Workshop has much to do with the entertaining nature of its educational content but also its engaging characters, most of which are performed by people you never see.
I remember watching an interview with Kevin Clash, the man behind the voice and performance of Sesame Street’s beloved Elmo. He noted that when kids come behind the scenes of Sesame Street, they don’t notice the puppeteers manipulating the Sesame Street character. Indeed most kids just think that the humans performing the puppets are simply there to carry their “friends” around.
Kids love performing puppets too, and there is something magic, even for the shyest child, to be able to put an element of their personality into another character, particularly one whose movements can be controlled intimately by the child.
Puppets like those put out by Folkmanis are full of character and are just waiting for a child to impart their own sense of personality and they become fully alive creatures. Once people start interacting with the puppet rather than the child, the concept of the puppet being a separate personality can start to kick in.
Once this happens the child may then feel free to express things they would not have felt uncomfortable voicing themselves. Puppets (and masks) have been used in many situations to help kids relate to the emotions they feel but cannot fully understand.
Not only that but there’s just something very appealing (for adults and kids)about speaking in a funny voice.
Inger loves to write and has been writing words on paper for quite some time. When the Internet came along she started writing online too. You can see her latest website which helps parents to chose the best puppets for kids at http://www.puppetsforkids.org
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What to Look For When Buying Puppets For Children
Puppets appeal to kids in many ways. When watching a puppet performance, you only have to look around at children’s faces to see how they engage with the puppet figures.
Kids also take great pleasure in performing puppets. Puppets can be friends that come to life or they can also be the way in which even the most reticent child can communicate to the world.
When purchasing puppets for children there are a few things you should keep in mind. The most significant factor is the age of the child, more specifically the size of their hands.
For very young children with undeveloped hand articulation you can’t look past finger puppets. Designed to be placed on and performed by a single finger, these diminutive characters can convey both action and emotion with the subtle bend of a pinkie.
The folkmanis brand have an extensive range of plush finger puppets, with a great amount of detail squished onto such a small finger. You can also find smaller, simpler finger puppets made from cotton or knitted wool.
If your child is a little older, the hand or glove puppet is worth looking into, giving a wider range of performance options. The hand puppet is designed to slip over a hand which can then be used to manipulate either the head/arms of the puppet or simply the mouth.
Be careful when selecting in this category as some brands place emphasis on the look of the puppet and the actual manipulation is unwieldy or even impossible for a small child (let alone an adult).
Melissa and Doug have a wide range of puppets created in people form and Folkmanis have a wide range of animal puppets. Both are backed up by the reputation of librarians and teachers who use puppets in storytelling activities with young children.
If you get a chance, try them out for yourself. You may find yourself inventing funny voices to entertain kids and even co-workers!
Inger loves to write and has been writing words on paper for quite some time. When the Internet came along she started writing online too. You can see her latest website which helps parents to choose the best puppets for kids and outlines the range of puppets for sale online.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Inger_Fountain