Hand and Rod Puppets After School at South of 60 Art Gallery

I'm exited to share that I will be teaching a 3 week after school program at the South of 60 Art Gallery in Barry's Bay, Ontario this fall!

Here's the outline of what I'll be up to with the kids:

For: 3 week session

Title: Simple Hand and Rod Puppets

Supplies:

Medium Styrofoam balls (for the head)

Plaster bandages (to cover the head and hand)

Wire (to shape the hand)

Couch foam ( make hands for younger kids)

Small piece of material

Small Dowels (for the head and arm control)

glue

paint in a variety of colours

brushes

bits of yarn, feathers (to make hair)

Scissors

Participants will be encouraged after the first class (once they have an idea of their character) to bring things they find, or have at home to decorate their puppet, as well as a scrap piece of material or old small shirt for their puppet.

I will be bringing a supply of material and couch foam as well as bits of yarn and other odds and ends to inspire their sense of play with their creation.

For the 6-8 year olds I will be pre-making the base layer for the heads, adding the neck post and cutting out the hands.

Breakdown of the project

During this 3 week session, participants will learn how to make a simple hand and rod puppet. This type of puppet has one hand controlling the head, and one hand controlling the arm, using rods of some kind (the majority of the muppets are made this way). I will be bringing with me a few sample puppets.

First week: Making the head and hand. This involves covering the Styrofoam ball with a layer of plaster bandage and shaping a basic nose. Adding the neck dowel.

Second Week: Painting the head and hand, gluing the neck and hand to the material. Adding hand dowel.

Third Week: Adding finishing touches and learning basic manipulation techniques. Playing with the puppets!

Thanks again for the opportunity, I'm looking forward to it!

Megan

Shadow Puppet Workshop!

Hello Friends,

Welcome to Nutmeg Puppets!

During the first week of May 2010, I spent four days at Cathedral Catholic School in Pembroke, Ontario. I worked with 6 different classes, from junior kindergarden up to grade 4.

The workshop I created consists of a basic history of shadow puppetry around the world and a short puppet show; then guiding the kids through how to make their own puppet and finally the kids split up into groups of 2 and 3 to practice and then perform their own show behind the screen!

It was incredible fun to see kids come out of themselves and to watch them open to the possibilities that this art form could offer them. Truly inspiring and heartwarming to be present for such events!

The following picture is the front page of Pembroke's newspaper, The Daily Observer on May 7, 2010. There were many events in schools all over the city, so i felt incredibly blessed for the workshop to have made it into the paper. Thank You! More photos can be seen in their website photo gallery at thedailyobserver.ca.

The following three photos are of a grade 2/3 class making and trying out their puppets!

Many thanks to all who participated for making it such a fun week!

Happy Puppeting!

Megan