Learning in the Making: Everyone Loves Puppets!

What do Elmo, Baby Yoda, and Kermit the Frog all have in common? They are all puppets! Puppets are moveable models controlled by a person using strings, wires, hands, or even technology. Puppets can be modeled after people, animals, or creatures that are make believe. Puppets are a widespread form of theater and storytelling with varieties and styles across the world, some human-operated while others are not, some small as buttons while others stand as tall as buildings. Puppets are both objects of engineering and objects of beauty. 

In this activity we will be exploring character and character design by making puppets! As designers we will have to make choices and use design thinking to construct our puppets. Who will our character be? How will they move? What story are they telling? How does this character reflect us and our identities?

Check out Part 1 of the series here:

Then follow along as we explore further in the video below: 

To make your own Puppet Prototype, you will need: 

• Paper (we recommend card stock or cereal box cardboard since they’re sturdy)
• Brass Fasteners or Pipe Cleaners
• Hole Puncher
• Connection materials: tape, glue, putty, binder clips, paper clips, etc.
• Optional Embellishing materials: glitter, stickers, drawings
• Tools: scissors, pens, pencils, markers, paper

Get creative, and use whatever materials you have around you. These materials above are suggestions to get you started. 

We want to see your projects! After you watch this episode, we encourage you to post your puppet prototypes on Twitter or Instagram. Tag us @MakerEdOrg with #MakerEdAtHome and #EveryoneLovesPuppets

Learning in the Making: LIVE! is an online video series designed to support educators and families with accessible hands-on learning experiences. This work is part of our focus on supporting remote learning in various environments. (To learn more, read this blog post about our work during shelter-in-place measures in 2020.) 

Each week, we are hosting a live making activity on our YouTube channel and sharing related resources on our blog. 

We are so excited to support hands-on learning as educators, caregivers, and young learners shift to distance learning, and we need your support! Donate today so we can keep going.