Puppeteer by Carrie Mills

Puppeteers get to make their puppets and to make up what their puppets do.

Let’s start with your making a puppet. You’ll need:

• A styrofoam ball (3 or 4 inches in diameter)
• A scarf or bandanna
• 2 rubber bands

Here’s what you do:

1. Make a hole about halfway into in the Styrofoam ball that your index finger can fit into.
2. Hold up your hand and drape the scarf over it, making sure the middle of the scarf is on the tip of your index finger.
3. Put the styrofoam ball over the scarf on your index finger.
4. Use the rubber bands to wrap the scarf to your thumb and your middle finger to make hands for your puppet.
5. Now your have a scarf puppet!

Now to make your puppet move!

1. Click on one of the music signs below.
2. Listen to the music and make your puppet move the way the music makes the puppet feel. You can make your puppet dance or tell a story using its body. Make sure the movements fit the music!
3. Click on a different music sign and make your puppet move differently.
4. Now it’s time to make your puppet talk. What is he or she going to tell you about dancing. Did he like it? Does he want to dance some more?
5. Can your puppet tell a story?

Harpsichord 549 KB .mp3 file	Tuba 281 KB .mp3 file	Drums 824 KB .mp3 file

Questions to think about.

1. How did your puppet move differently when she danced to the different kinds of music?
2. How did the different music change the way your puppet felt?

You’ve been manipulating your puppet, making your puppet move. This is what puppeteers do. Perhaps you’d like to find a friend who has a puppet and you can make a puppet play. Your puppets can talk to one another and use their movement to tell a story.