Idea Box is well-known for our puppet-making curricula, which give students as young as 10 the tools to build a muppet-style hand-and-rod puppet fully from scratch. Even as young as 6, students can start building the mechanisms that bring puppets to life!
Intro to Puppet-Making
introduces campers to the core mechanics of puppet-making.
Students in this camp will design and create several puppets, including:
Jun 22-26, 1-4pm
A mini puppet with arm rods
A mini dragon puppet
A “live hand” spider puppet
One or more “freestyle puppets” of their own design.
A short demo for each of their puppets including puppet movement, voice, and character.
This camp ends with a Puppet Walk and Talk for family and friends during the last hour of camp on Friday, during which guests can visit with students at their work stations, see puppet demonstrations, and try out the new puppets for themselves.
Beginning/ Intermediate Puppet-Making
picks up where our Intro camp leaves, off, with a review of basic mechanics, then moves on to more advanced patter-based making techniques. Campers will build:
July 20-24, 9am-Noon
A mini-puppet with arm rods and a rubber-band mouth.
A live hand “spider” puppet.
A muppet-style hand-and-rod puppet from scratch using patterns.
One or more “freestyle puppets” of their own design.
A short demo for each of their puppets including puppet movement, voice, and character.
This camp ends with a Puppet Walk and Talk for family and friends during the last hour of camp on Friday, during which guests can visit with students at their work stations, see puppet demonstrations, and try out the new puppets for themselves.
Intermediate/ Advanced Puppet-Making
is for young artists ready to create durable, professional-looking puppets with advanced operation mechanics.
Campers build a complex hand-and-rod puppet from scratch, including:
Building the internal structure from patterns with foam and hot glue.
Installing interchangeable arm rods and magnetic palm plates.
Wiring the hands to be posable and hold objects.
Designing and creating the puppet’s facial feaures using foam, fleece, fur, etc.
Practicing basic hand-and-rod puppet operation.
This camp ends with a Live Puppet Performance during the last hour of camp on Friday, during which the campers will practice their operation skills in a “panel of puppet experts” by having their puppets improvise answers to live audience questions.
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