ACTIVITY 1: Making Reused Bunraku Puppets!

Objectives:

• Learn how to construct puppets from reused materials.
• Learn how different materials can be used to make puppets move.
• Basic puppet manipulation using hand and body.
• Learn how to construct a working armature.
• Learn different ways of attaching materials (glue, wire, tape and cutting slots and tabs).

Estimated Time Needed for Activity:

One 90-minute class. With adaptations, this activity can be longer. (see Extensions and Adaptations below)

Notes:

Teacher can discuss what made different puppets move and how they moved. Did they talk? Did they bend? What would you like your puppet to do? Maybe the puppet had no moving parts and was manipulated by the puppeteer behind them. Accentuate how puppets can come in many different shapes and forms.

Addressing Cultural Diversity in the Learning Environment:

• Studying puppetry is an excellent opportunity to explore the arts of different cultures. Tears of Joy has performed folk tales from all over the world as puppet shows. You can bring in visual references from the library to demonstrate what puppets all over the world look like including Japanese bunraku puppets. Make sure to draw inspiration from the diverse cultural experiences of students in your class.

Materials Needed for this Activity:

• Glue
• Masking Tape
• Wire (old telephone wire)
• Toilet paper tubes
• Assorted cereal and food boxes
• Assorted plastic yogurt cups and scrap
• Old bicycle inner tubes
• Scissors
• Any other plastic, paper or cardboard scraps you can collect!
• Staplers
• Old pencils
• Newspaper

Additional Resources:

• SCRAP (School and Community Reuse Action Project) is an excellent resource for getting reused materials for art projects. SCRAP is located in Portland at 3901A N. Williams avenue and their phone number is 503-294 0769. Heavy duty “creature staplers” or staple pliers are useful for harder stapling than the average school room model. These can be ordered from ACO Abrasives whose number is 888-883-0500. They are located in San Francisco.
• It is helpful for the teacher to have examples of reused puppets to show the class beforehand. You may want to experiment and make a few of your own before the class starts. The Teacher can also encourage students bringing in reused materials before the first class, and even offer incentives for bringing the most materials in, like a toilet paper crown! The more scrap materials, the better.
  

Procedure:

1. The instructor introduces the project as “how to make your own bunraku puppets from reused materials.” First, students are shown examples. A bunraku puppet is manipulated from behind, using rods to move the limbs around. Demonstrate how bicycle tubes can not only be used as hinges and limbs, but to tie the puppet to the puppeteer's arms and waist. Also show how the puppeteer's hands can fit inside boxes and yogurt cups to move them around. Also demonstrate how to sculpt features by taping up newspaper.
2. Explain that the students build an armature, or skeleton of the puppet before adding details. Have all the supplies laid out in boxes and trays on a table. Students line up and get the materials they need for the armature.
3. Once everyone returns to their seats with their materials, they begin attaching limbs and bodies using tape, wire, glue and staplers.
4. You may assist with more difficult tasks, like punching holes in plastic objects and stapling thicker materials together.
5. Students now use smaller materials to tape detailed features to their puppets.
6. Students finish by adding rods (pencils) to their puppets.
7. When complete, students are asked to share by saying one thing through the puppet and inviting other students to share positive feedback about the puppets.

Assessment

• Use the Creation Scoring Guide to assess this activity.

Extensions and Adaptations

1. This activity can be extended several more sessions to create a puppet show. Puppets can be made larger if bigger boxes are supplied.
   
2. The Spiral Q Puppet Theater is a community puppetry arts non-profit with an excellent website. Look under “resources” for some helpful puppetry information.
   
3. Also, you may want to take the puppet-making a step further by adding papier-mache. Strong papier-mache can be made from a variety of starches and grocery bag paper. Boil one pot of water. Fill a separate container with half the amount of water in the pot, except this water is cold. Add starch to cold water, so that it is 1 part starch and 1 part water, and mix well. Add starch solution slowly to boiling water until consistency is syrupy, but not too pudding-like or runny. Contact Bruce Orr of the Mudeye Puppet Company for more information on starch at edbruce@critpath.org.
4. Making puppets can be used in conjunction with other subjects. The theme of “reuse” can be utilized as part of environmental studies.
   
5. They can also be used to make animals for a science class. For instance, this would be a great opportunity to teach the three segments of insects by beginning a “bug-puppet” by creating the head, thorax and abdomen.
   
6. Finally, puppets can be used to represent historical figures or the mythical figures of different cultures.

ACTIVITY 2: Mythological Marionettes

Objectives:

• Identify role of art in mythology.
• Learn about equilibrium in constructing marionettes.
• Express self through creation and performance.
• Increase self esteem through performance.

Estimated Time Needed for Activity:

Four 60-minute sessions

Notes:

It will be helpful for you to construct a marionette to use as an example. Make sure to emphasize that marionettes do not necessarily have to be human, they can be animal or even objects. You can also collect visual reference of marionettes from the library.

Addressing Cultural Diversity in the Learning Environment:

• Puppet-making is a great way to express cultural identity. Although Tears of Joy are shown depicting the legend of Perseus in the video, they have illustrated folk tales from around the world, such as Anansi the spider. The instructor can bring in some examples of mythological stories from other places besides Europe.

Materials Needed for this Activity:

• Toilet tubes
• Cereal, tea and other assorted cardboard boxes
• Yogurt cups
• Assorted scrap material. (plastic and cardboard)
• Bendable telephone wire
• Paint stirrers and popsicle sticks
• String
• Scissors
• Masking Tape
• Glue
• Egg Cartons
• Staplers
• Fabric scraps

Additional Resources:

• For mythology, the work of Joseph Campbell provides a great comprehensive overview of world mythology.
  
• Bullfinch’s mythology is also a good resource.
  
• For younger kids, there are many children’s books about Anansi the spider (Africa) and Baba Yaga (Russia) that could be read to the class before beginning the project.
  

Procedure:

1. Introduce the project as “create your own mythological marionette.”
   
2. Read a short mythological or folk tale to the class.
   
3. Students break into groups to write down ideas about the kind of marionettes they want to make.
   
4. Ask the class "is your character a hero? A monster? A trickster? What sort of problems or changes does your character encounter?"
   
5. At the end of this class, students will have completed a short mythological story with character sketches.
6. The second class begins with the students selecting the parts for their marionettes.
7. Marionettes are not as simple as they look.
   
8. Allow the students to figure out how to make them balanced, but make it clear that strings should be firmly attached at the joints.
9. Also make it clear that marionettes do not necessarily have to be human in form. They can be animals, creatures and even objects.
10. They can use the cups, tubes and boxes for limbs, torso and head.
    
11. Lay the parts out on the table.
12. Attach the parts with string, wire and staplers.
    
13. Encourage tying and cutting slots.
    
14. Make sure the string runs through the tubes for arms and legs.
15. Also, there needs to be a string that runs from between the legs, up through the torso and head and out of the top of the head.
    
16. Tie the parts to paint stirrers and popsicle sticks to manipulate them.
17. The third class is spent adding all the details to the marionettes. Students glue fabric and plastic to add facial features, hair, wings and other parts.
18. For the fourth class, set up a “puppet theater.”
    
19. This is a table top that the students can place their puppets on top of and manipulate from above.
    
20. Shows can also take place on the floor as a stage, with a table turned on its side to provide a background, or to stick background visuals to.
21. One by one, the groups of students perform their short puppet shows and tell the stories of their characters.
    
22. At the end of each show, students are asked to comment on the puppets and the performance, using positive language.

Assessment

• Use the Puppetry Scoring Guide to assess this activity.

Extensions and Adaptations

Mythology is a vital part of every ancient civilization, and puppets can be used to illustrate the myth of the student’s choice, instead of them coming up with one. For instance, puppets can be used to tell the story of how the scarab beetle rolls out the sun in Ancient Egypt. This project can also be lengthened to make more elaborate marionettes. Newspaper can be pressed and taped into different shapes. There can be a day of papier-mache-ing and a day of painting. Shows can be performed by older students to younger classrooms.

ACTIVITY 3: Shadow Puppet Theater

Objectives:

• Learn about shadow puppetry as an art form.
• Learn how to make moving limbs and parts on puppets using fasteners.
• Enhance self-esteem through performance.
• Use creativity to tell stories of the neighborhood.
• Increase group problem-solving skills.

Estimated Time Needed for Activity:

Three 60-minute classes

Notes:

As with the other puppet projects, it is helpful for you to make your own shadow puppet. You may want to do some research about shadow puppetry from around the world and bring in visual examples of these. Indonesia, India and China have a rich tradition of shadow puppetry.

Addressing Cultural Diversity in the Learning Environment:

• This project involves the students in telling the stories of their own neighborhoods. Be culturally sensitive to the themes this brings up. This project also offers an opportunity for students to learn about each other and their way of life. Ask questions of the class, like "what would a puppet look like that came out of your neighborhood?"

Materials Needed for this Activity:

• Oaktag paper (folders are good, cereal boxes can be used, too)
• Brass fasteners
• Scissors
• Hole punchers
• Pencils
• Chopsticks, lollipop sticks, straws or other stick like materials
• A 18x24 inch (roughly) sheet of tracing paper or large white sheet to use as the shadow screen.
• A clamp light other portable light

Additional Resources:

• I recommend the puppetry homepage website.
  

Procedure:

1. Introduce the activity as "create a shadow puppet show about your community."
   
2. Ask students to form a group and write about something that happened in your neighborhood.
   
3. Each student creates a story about their community.
   
4. Encourage students to think of people in their neighborhood and who their neighbors are.
   
5. By the end of the class each group should have a short story about their neighborhoods.
   
6. Ask students to create a “build list” of all the things that need to be built for their shows.
   
7. Shadow puppets are not only the characters, but the objects and background visuals as well, like the houses.
8. The second class is for building the shadow puppets.
   
9. Ask students to draw the parts on the oaktag paper.
   
10. Make sure all parts are at least a half-inch wide.
    
11. If they are too small they may break easily and be difficult to manipulate.
    
12. When students are finished they cut out the parts.
    
13. Hole punchers can be used for making eyes in the puppets.
14. Students use hole punchers to make holes where moving parts adjoin.
    
15. For limbs this will be at the shoulders and torso.
    
16. Brass fasteners go through the holes.
    
17. Bend the tabs up to attach the two parts, making sure it is not so tight that the parts cannot move.
18. Attach the chopsticks (or whatever kind of stick is being used) with tape.
    
19. These are used to manipulate the puppets, often attached to hands and feet.
20. For the last class, set up a shadow screen for the puppet shows.
21. This is done by taping up the sheet of tracing paper or hanging up the sheet.
    
22. A portable light shines on the screen from behind.
    
23. Students place their shadow puppets against the screen to cast shadows.
    
24. To make the image clearer and smaller, place them closer to the screen.
    
25. To make them blurrier and larger, move them away from the screen.
    
26. When performing their shadow shows, encourage the use of sounds as well. This means students can make special voices, sound effects and sing.
    
27. Encourage students to bring in musical instruments and noise makers.
28. One by one, the students perform their puppet shows.
    
29. Time is set aside at the end of class to discuss what the students learned from each other’s shows.

Assessment

• Use the Puppetry Scoring Guide to assess this activity.

Extensions and Adaptations

1. One option is to break the students into groups.
   
2. Another is to make the assignment more specific, such as “Create a puppet show about a house or building in your neighborhood.” Who lives or lived there? What is its history? To enhance this project, have students interview people in their neighborhood as homework and use this in the puppet shows.
   
3. Shadow puppetry can also be used to illustrate various scientific events. This medium could be used to create shows about everything from heliocentric theory to mitosis.