One Hundred Puppets. Countless Stories.
Open the cases and more than 100 hand puppets emerge, each waiting for somebody to give it a voice, a personality and a very important problem to solve.
Cirque Um Navigate’s Puppet Workshop invites children to explore character, storytelling and performance through one of the most wonderfully immediate forms of theatre.
Choose a puppet.
Bring it to life.
Then discover what happens when it meets everybody else.
Puppet Workshop
Meet the Puppets
Our collection contains more than 100 hand puppets available for participants to explore.
With so many characters in the room, every child has the opportunity to find one that captures their imagination. Some puppets appear heroic. Others are obvious villains. Several look as though they should not be trusted with the group’s afternoon snacks.
Once a puppet has been chosen, our facilitator introduces the basic techniques used to make it feel alive.
Participants explore:
-
Puppet movement and focus
-
Creating a distinctive voice
-
Expressing emotion through movement
-
Developing personality and character
-
Interacting with other puppets
-
Making an audience believe the puppet is thinking
A hand may be operating the puppet, but the character should appear to have ideas of its own.
Create a Story
Participants form small groups and begin creating stories around their chosen characters.
Who are they?
What do they want?
What has gone terribly—or hilariously—wrong?
With support from our facilitator, groups develop a beginning, a problem and an ending before rehearsing their miniature puppet production.
The stories can be grand adventures, peculiar mysteries, comedies or complete nonsense held together by one extremely confident chicken.
There is no single correct story.
That is rather the point.
Share the Show
Where the session format allows, groups can present their stories to one another.
The puppet becomes a small theatrical mask, allowing children to perform through a character rather than feeling that the attention is entirely on them.
Confident performers can create bold characters and lead the action. Quieter participants can contribute ideas, operate a puppet, help shape the story or gradually discover that speaking through a fluffy creature feels surprisingly comfortable.
Everyone has a way into the performance.
Perfect for Vacation Care & OOSH
The Puppet Workshop is an excellent vacation care and OOSH incursion because it combines imaginative play with a guided creative project.
Children are not simply watching a puppet show. They are making the characters move, developing stories and working together to create something of their own.
The workshop encourages:
-
Imagination and creative expression
-
Oral language and storytelling
-
Cooperation and communication
-
Confidence in performance
-
Listening and responding
-
Empathy through exploring different characters
-
The ability to solve fictional problems of considerable importance
It can be adapted to suit different ages, group sizes, session lengths and holiday themes.
Led by a Professional Puppeteer
Our workshop is led by an experienced working puppeteer who understands how small movements can turn fabric, fur and foam into a believable character.
Participants receive practical guidance while remaining free to experiment and develop their own performance style.
The aim is not to make every puppet move in precisely the same way.
It is to help every child discover how their puppet moves.
No Strings Attached
Tell us about your vacation care or OOSH group, including participant numbers, ages, venue and available time.
We’ll bring more than 100 hand puppets, years of performance experience and enough potential characters to create a very crowded imaginary world.
Member of the International Punch Society
“Life's like a movie, write your own ending.
Keep believing, keep pretending"
– Jim Henson
