As a child, I grew up watching wonderful puppets like Bill Steam-shovel and Mr Squiggle. These puppet characters, the dialogue, the ridiculous problems they encountered, and the fun and laughter kept us all, as kids, tuned in each week for a new and exciting episode. The delight of children, and adults, in puppets was taken to new heights, of course, with Jim Henson and his wonderful Sesame Street mob and the Muppets that fairly burst with character and personality.
So how can you incorporate puppets and draw in that same delight and involvement in your kidmin programs and presentation? It's actually not as difficult as you may think.
Do you have some teenagers that are looking for a ministry area they can grow and develop? Are there some volunteers with work commitments that prevent a regular involvement in your ministry program? Why not suggest they form the nucleus of your puppetry team?
Start with some fun training sessions and then send them home to practice with a puppet and script. If they've taken the time to practice at home, they should only need a few rehearsals and you're ready to present your first puppet segment.
So.. who's going to teach them the basics? Good question.
So how can you incorporate puppets and draw in that same delight and involvement in your kidmin programs and presentation? It's actually not as difficult as you may think.
Do you have some teenagers that are looking for a ministry area they can grow and develop? Are there some volunteers with work commitments that prevent a regular involvement in your ministry program? Why not suggest they form the nucleus of your puppetry team?
Start with some fun training sessions and then send them home to practice with a puppet and script. If they've taken the time to practice at home, they should only need a few rehearsals and you're ready to present your first puppet segment.
So.. who's going to teach them the basics? Good question.
Unless you're a seasoned, expert puppeteer yourself, the easiest and probably the best way to teach novice puppeteers is to purchase a quality training dvd. There are not too many on the market but puppetsinc have some 'oldie but goldie' training dvds demonstrating the basics or advanced techniques. As they say themselves of this series: ' A blast to the past, this collection of six DVDs was made in the mid 1980's and the hair and clothing styles show it.' ( You can also purchase them separately.) But the techniques are timeless and will assist beginners and help more experienced puppeteers hone their skills.
Download the puppet training introductory handout below and use to present your training segment to your eager volunteers. (Print off the hand-out onto A3 paper and fold in half.) Alternatively, you could email 'bite-sized' training to your volunteers with video clips and great content to encourage and develop your team. These free training clips are readily available. Read more ....
Download the puppet training introductory handout below and use to present your training segment to your eager volunteers. (Print off the hand-out onto A3 paper and fold in half.) Alternatively, you could email 'bite-sized' training to your volunteers with video clips and great content to encourage and develop your team. These free training clips are readily available. Read more ....
And, of course, you'll need some puppets. The size and type of puppet will depend on how you intend using them. If you only have a small group, use smaller sized puppets. If you intend to present your presentation to a large group, then you'll need larger puppets. Don't skimp on size. I go for the 18-20" size puppets. But you only need a couple to begin with. You can find information about different types of puppets and suppliers on our puppet Pinterest board here..
You can use a laughable, character puppet to regularly introduce a segment of your program, a short puppet segment to highlight a special theme or a larger production for a special event. You'll find people puppets, animal puppets and even black-light puppets for special effects.
You can use a laughable, character puppet to regularly introduce a segment of your program, a short puppet segment to highlight a special theme or a larger production for a special event. You'll find people puppets, animal puppets and even black-light puppets for special effects.
When your team is first beginning, stick to using prerecorded puppet skits. That way, they can focus their attention on the movement, action and character of their puppets rather than the added difficulty of voice and dialogue. There are some wonderful skit recordings available. Check out puppetsinc for a full collection of large cast presentations, small or even solo recorded skits or varied lengths.
There are books of puppet skits with prerecorded diaolgue included like Instant Puppet Skits, or Just Add Puppets- great skits with humour that do more than just entertain- they teach. The books come with suggestions for introducing and concluding each puppet segment.
Axtell puppets, those wonderful latex puppet characters, are available with recorded dialogue and presentations with suggestions for use.
There are books of puppet skits with prerecorded diaolgue included like Instant Puppet Skits, or Just Add Puppets- great skits with humour that do more than just entertain- they teach. The books come with suggestions for introducing and concluding each puppet segment.
Axtell puppets, those wonderful latex puppet characters, are available with recorded dialogue and presentations with suggestions for use.
Yes.. working with puppets is tiring and, like anything else, if you want great results you need to practice. But there are tremendous benefits in using this versatile resource for your kidmin programs.
| puppet_introduction_handout_a3.pdf |
photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/spiritsdancing/2397420756/">Hil</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a>
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