Summer holidays are here! Though the huge surge in Covid-19 cases has forced families to cancel travel plans, summer holidays are a time of relaxation and leisure and children look forward to engaging in nonroutine enjoyable off-screen activities. An innovative summer activity is for children to hand-make puppets, and stage puppet shows for family and friends. Puppet shows are entertaining and loved by people of all ages. You can make finger, hand or stick puppets with easily available materials.
FINGER PUPPETS
• Make small cones or scarves for your fingers. Draw little faces on the tips of your fingers. Wrap the scarf under your fingertips. Small cones make nice hats. These puppets are tiny and can be seen only at close quarters. So display them to a small audience of one or two people.
• Make a roll out of chart paper. The roll should fit your finger. Draw a face on the cardboard, cut it out and stick it on the roll. Cut out paper clothes and stick them on. That makes a simple finger puppet to use.
SOCK PUPPETS
Get an old sock. Put it on your hand. Hold your hand as you would when you’re using a puppet — four fingers on top and thumb below. Your hand forms a cave which is the mouth of the puppet. Paint this area red or stick red cloth on it. Now paint the area above and below the mouth in the colour of an animal. Stick buttons for eyes in the upper area. While using this puppet, move your fingers up and down, so that the mouth opens and closes as you speak.
STICK PU
PPET
• Get straight, strong sticks.
• Place a small stick across a bigger stick (like a cross) for the hands and tie them tightly together. Get an old cloth and wrap it round the stick to make the body.
• Wrap some cloth at the top to make a head. Stick on eyes, nose and mouth, and wool for hair. For a woman, wrap the cloth around the puppet like a sari, with pleats in front. For a man, make a shirt and dhoti. The stick puppet must be long. You can hold the lower part of the stick to move the puppet.
• Let two people hold a folded sari across the “stage” to cover the lower part of the sticks. Only the dolls should be visible to the audience. These puppets can walk and jump though they can’t move their heads too much.
READY-MADE PUPPETS
Ready-made puppets made of fur or other materials are available online/in the market.
STAGE A PUPPET SHOW
Arrange with neighbourhood friends to stage a puppet show. Each person holds one or two puppets and speaks for them. Use different tones of voice while speaking — shouting, laughing, happy, sad voices. When you move the puppet, it gives life to it. Make the puppets move and jump as much as you can. Watch puppet shows on YouTube and learn some interesting tips for hosting a great show!
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