Puppet Beginnings

This week with Donnely, we began a puppet project that will take up the rest of our time together. Donnely introduced us to different types of puppets, many that the kids were already familiar with (e.g., shadow puppets and marionettes). She also introduced us to a couple of her homemade puppets, and this gave the artists inspiration for their own.

This project begins with a sewing cone body and Popsicle stick arms. Our job was to build the head using paper and recycled materials. The process of rolling the head together and tucking the neck into the cone was difficult, but eventually we all managed it (even me!).

Then, we used pieces of egg cartons and paper rolls to add facial features.

  

The last step for the day was to papier mache over the head and neck to add the first layer of structure. Donnely showed us how to use this technique correctly by removing excess glue and smoothing everything down. The puppets are now drying and will get more features and another layer of papier mache next week.