Today I wanted to share with you some patterns for DIY puppets. Spending this much time at home with your family might be new for some of us, especially the homeschooling part. This, however, is a wonderful opportunity to teach some of the 'slow' learning that doesn't really happen in schools. A great activity to do with your family is storytelling. Storytelling used to be a large part of everyone's life. It has been used to pass down family history and knowledge, to teach morals and values as well as for entertainment. A great way to get into storytelling is by using puppets. They are super fun, both to make and to play with! Puppets can be used to bring stories to life and to spark the imagination through creative drama. Not only is puppet theater a great way to spend time together it is also a great way to explore the world of drama and the performing arts. At this time families have free access to many theaters and ballet performances. For instance the Met Opera has begun streaming for free encore presentations of their Live in HD series. Check it out!
There are many different ways to make puppets and I encourage you to create a puppet using what you have lying around the house. For me this was socks. Numerous single socks without a matching partner that have lived at the bottom of my laundry hamper, some for many months. I can give these socks a new life just by simply adding some button eyes, a little bit of yarn for hair and any other embellishments that can help build the character of my puppet. By visiting the first link you will find instructions on how to put together your own fuzzy friend. There is a website link as well as a YouTube video explaining this process. Another great option for using up some odds and ends of material or even paper, if that's all you have, are finger puppets. Finger puppets can be sewn or glued depending on your skill level. The last link I am sharing has some wonderful ‘forest characters’ that you might want to recreate. If this too seems a bit beyond your comfort zone try painting a face on the back of a wooden spoon or you can just cut out a character drawn on paper and glue it to the back of a popsicle stick! It doesn't matter how you make your puppet what matters is that you bring it to life through play. Enjoy your puppets with your family by recreating your favourite story, writing a play together, or trying improv comedy. If you do create a puppet show we would love to see it. Record a video and tag us. #temiskamingartgallery.
That's it for now. Have a great day folks.
Sincerely; Your friendly neighbourhood art gallery.
http://anadiycrafts.com/sock-puppet/