has long been theplace where an odd butapproachable assortment ofcharacters live. From monsters, tofrogs, to grouches, to ... whateverBert and Ernie are... they’re the

people that you meet when you’rewalking down the street.

As Aaron Reynolds notes (FabulaousReinvention of Sunday School):

showed the world that‘real’ people and quirky characterscan, maybe even should, coexist. Butthere are a few rules to the craft of

using characters that can bring greatpower to your own ministryneighbourhood.

While they’re certainly unusual,every character on the Street is

Even the Grouch.Even the monsters. Size, colour orhairiness doesn’t seem to matterbut how they speak and react does.But they’re not frightening... butlovable. That’s an important partof character success, especially withthe younger, preschool gang.

Many of the creatures that inhabitSesame Street are kids, albeit furryones. It’s been said that Elmo is writtenas a three-year-old, Prairie Dawn isseven, and Grover psychologicallyrepresents a four-year-old. Smallwonder, then, that he’s so ‘cute andloveable’!Make sure your puppet charactersare not scary, but act and react in away that children will relate to.

How does this relate to our ministry?“The character is the voice of thekids.” Childlike characters help kidswork through the topic, often askingthe same questions kids are thinkingabout. These characters give ateacher a great foil, a way to teachkids indirectly (by teaching thecharacter) without just talking atthem.

When it comes to driving the mainconcept home, when making sense

TrainingNew Chapter

children’s ministries

Issue

sesame street secrets…

Characters withcharacter

Puppet basics

Timely tips

Where to buy

Children of all ages love puppets- whether kids arewatching a puppet show or actually being thepuppeteers. Puppets have a way of imparting biblicaltruths in a fun, humorous and unforgettable way.

I N T H I S

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B E A U T Y N E W S L E T T E R - i s s u e o n e B E A U T Y N E W S L E T T E R - i s s u e o n e

Although these basics are importantat all levels of puppetry, the beginnermust become proficient enough inthese techniques to the point thatthey become second nature. It isimportant to know that all the basicscan be practised without a puppet,but you must know the correct way tohold a puppet. Insert one handthrough the body of the puppet andinto the mouth. Your hand shouldfeel comfortable with four fingers inthe roof of the mouth and the thumbin the jaw below. Both the fingersand the thumb should be touchingthe cloth-covered mouth. You mayfind that you have more control ifyou cross your middle finger overyour index finger.

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Synchronize the opening of thepuppet’s mouth with the spokenword. Avoid moving the mouth atrandom during a sentence. Do notopen the mouth all the way witheach word. Save the wide mouthopenings for exaggerated or loudexpressions.

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Correct mouth action is necessaryin good puppetry. Practise openingthe puppet’s mouth by moving yourthumb down without moving yourfingers upward. A slight forwardthrust of the hand may help whenfirst beginning. This is to make surethe bottom jaw moves and not thetop of the puppet’s head- what wecall ‘flipping the lid.’

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Remember to make your puppetlook at the audience regularly. Ifyour stage is elevated, you will wantyour puppets to look down a littlemore than usual, rather than overthe heads of your audience. This isachieved by simple adjustments ofthe wrist angle.

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If you want your puppet to appearnatural, good posture cannot beignored. To achieve this, thepuppeteer’s arm must be held atright angles to the floor with handlevel. Do not allow the puppet tolean from side to side nor lean onthe stage.

While there are many ways to enterand exit a puppet, the one werecommend using most often is tomake your puppet appear as if he iswalking up or down a ramp. Thismovement uses the whole arm andrequires the puppeteer to keep hisforearm straight up and down whilethe wrist remains relaxed. Using afluid motion, the puppeteer movesforward as he ‘bounces’ the puppetonto the stage. With each bounce ofthe arm, the puppet comes morefully into view. When the puppetleaves the stage, the process isreversed.

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A puppet bird or a talking platypus raising questions orworking out problems is great. I just wouldn’t advocate for atalking egg-laying mammal leading kids across the line offaith. Characters need to be balanced by a ‘real’ person, ateacher who reinforces the concepts and relates individually tothe kids.

C H I L D R E N ’ S M I N I S T R I E S T R A I N I N G

Characters work best with areal person.

E N T E R T A I N

B E A U T Y N E W S L E T T E R - i s s u e o n e

In the hands of dedicatedpuppeteers, these foam andfabric creations can make uslaugh, make us cry and even helpus share important Biblemessages.

Puppets are fun and non-threatening. As a caricature ofhumanity, they can presentsignificant truths in a manner thatis easily accepted. Many uniqueopportunities for ministry are

available to puppeteers, aspuppets can open doors tounexpected and surprisingvenues for sharing God’s Word.

Whether they are shadowpuppets, rod puppets, Bunrakupuppets, finger puppets, movingmouth puppets, we are convincedthat puppets of all kinds are oneof the most effective tools forreaching children and familieswith the gospel. Try it yourself;while you’re at it you may justcatch Puppet Fever!

A puppet ministry team, in manyways, is like a drama group.

Participants memorize scripts andmovements, develop muscularabilities and learn to worktogether as a team.

And that takes practice.

Teams need regular rehearsals todevelop the muscular strength,memorization skills andcooperation needed to master theplays, skits and songs of puppetministry.

The following steps apply tolearning prerecorded material.Learning live material follows asimilar path, with time added forscript reading and voicedevelopment.

1. Review the material withpuppeteers.

2. Play the CD. Have puppeteersread the script as they listen.

3. Assign parts to the puppeteers.

4. Play the sound track again.Have the puppeteers move theirthumbs in sync with the voices onthe sound track.

5. Have puppeteers listen to thetape and lip-sync with theirpuppets. After a few practice runs,have puppeteers put away theirscripts and just follow the soundtrack.

6. Move to the puppet stage.Have puppeteers work onpositioning and on polishing theirpresentation.

7. Add props, scenery andcostumes.

There is no other ministry quite like puppet ministry. Puppets are effective in reaching,teaching and entertaining audiences of all ages. They aren’t just for kids. Everyone lovespuppets.

Encourage your puppeteers tobe patient as they learncorrect techniques. Practice

them every time you rehearse.Taking time to learn thesetechniques in the early stages ofyour puppet ministry will save youtime and quality later. And goodskills, when combined withcreative costuming and fun voiceeffects, will heighten puppeteers’enjoyment and increase yourministry’s effectiveness.

T I M E L Y

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Use puppets to introducesimple concepts.‘Fewerconcepts bring manyjoys.’Give them memorablephrases. Don’t be afraidof formula.

No puppets teaching thewhole lesson.

Try to keep charactersgrounded in reality.

Nothing beats practice.

C H I L D R E N ’ S M I N I S T R I E S T R A I N I N G

Lights! Camera!Action! It would begreat to have all theimpressive equipment

and sophisticated puppet stagesets to present a first-rateproduction.

DETAILS

W H E R E T Obuy1

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www.onewaystreet.com

www.puppetplace.com

www.axtellpuppets.net

www.axtell.com

www.dtk-kids.com/type/paper_bag.htm

But it’s really not necessary. Puppetministry can happen whereverpeople gather- whether that meansan auditorium or a parking lot.Having a nice stage- complete withlighting and sound- can make apuppet team’s performance reallyshine. But doing a skit from behinda dumpster for a group ofneighbourhood kids can have thesame lasting effect on people’s lives.

So what does having a nice stageset accomplish? Sets enhance yourprogram’s message. Nothing more,nothing less. Your puppet team isn’tcrippled if you don’t have a nice set.And neither has your team ‘arrived’just because you do have one.

So design your sets to enhance thepuppet team’s message, but don’tdepend on your set to carry themessage.

A puppet stage gives your puppeteerssomething to hide behind andspotlights the puppets themselves.With that broad purpose, a puppetstage can be anything from a simplesheet to a multilevel, multi-curtainedstage designed for grand puppetproductions. Let’s look at a few ideasyou can use as your puppet teamperforms and grows.

The improvised stage- Occasionallyyou may find yourself in a situationwhere you don’t have a real stage towork with. If that happens, just usewhatever's available. Items such as apulpit, a piano, a room divider, achalkboard, a table turned on it’s sideor a blanket held up between twopeople can all be used as stages in apinch.

The refrigerator box stage- Just set itupright and cut a slit along the topfor the puppets to appear through.Because of its size, use this type ofstage with only one or twopuppeteers.

Connected panel stage- Hinge 3 to 5panels of plywood together and coverwith a canvas or fabric.

The microphone stage- Connect anarrow board to 2 microphonestands. Use Velcro to hang a curtainalong the length of the board.Because you can adjust the stageeasily, this stage type works well forpuppet teams with younger kidswho’re growing quickly.

The plastic pipe stage- The mostcommon stage used today is created

with lengths of plastic pipingconnected together and covered withcurtains of material.

Scenery helps set the mood for youpresentation. In puppetry, scenerycan be draped over the stage curtainor the backdrop curtain, or made tostand alone next to the stage. Youcan make scenery out of just aboutanything: cardboard, foam,polysheets, transparencies or slidesprojected up onto a screen.

Anyone can put together a slickproduction. But what matters is thatthe heart of your message getsacross to your audience.

www.sonshinepuppets.com