Puppets

There’s something magical about puppets—they really seem to come to life like Pinocchio!

The best thing about puppets is using your imagination to create stories about them! You can make puppets from just about anything! Over the years, I’ve used puppets in my classroom, my clown act, and with my own children.

One time, I was visiting a nursing home as Peppermint Patti. After finishing my show, I visited the people who weren’t able to get out of bed. I brought my bunny puppet with me as an ice breaker. It is so realistic looking; people thought it was a real bunny. As they patted the bunny, they reminisced about the pets they once owned.

Jr. Mint is my faithful sidekick when I do my Peppermint Patti shows. She is a skunk puppet but she doesn’t know it. She thinks she’s a kitty cat. She likes to play tricks on me. She also loves it when I read to her. (That’s another way to get kids to read books—involve a puppet!)

When my children were little they loved watching a video by Sheri Lewis. What a talented performer! She inspired us to make our own puppets and put on puppet productions on many a rainy day.

Recently our fourth grades went on a field trip to the Lincoln Theater in Hartford, Connecticut. We watched a Jim West production of Aesop’s fables. The puppets were incredible! When they showed the audience how to make a newspaper tree, it brought me back to my childhood. My favorite books from the library were ‘make and do’ books. I’m hoping that the show inspired some of my students to try puppetry. Perhaps Jr. Mint will make a surprise visit to our classroom soon!

Has your family enjoyed a good puppet show lately? Leave me a comment—I’d love to hear about it!