Photos from the Vancouver BC Workshop
Here are some photos taken at the January Vancouver BC workshop on Language Development, Nursery Rhymes, and Puppetry. These very expressive Wee Willy Winkie rod puppets are an example of what the enthusiastic group made, and they are just wonderful. They also practiced the 'performing' aspect of bringing them to life, from waking them up (opening the curtain so to speak), telling and gesturing the nursery rhyme stories, and putting them back to sleep (closing the curtain). The more a young child hears the rhythmic language of the nursery rhyme, the more it supports deep breathing and healthy blood circulation!
continue readeingPosted by Suzanne, on January 21st, 2010
The Wisdom Behind the Worker Character
Coming soon is an early childhood puppetry workshop which is on a theme that is important to our times. How can story characters that are the 'doers' of the tale bring a visual and moving portrayal of meaningful and purposeful work. We live in a world culture where children rarely get the chance to see true work, the kind of activity where people are also deeply interested in what they are doing with their hands, heart, and actions. It is important for children to see models of engaged will, to support and inform the healthy development of their own beginnings of meaningful participation in the world.
continue readeingPosted by Suzanne, on January 13th, 2010
ECE Puppetry Workshop in Santa Cruz, CA
Dear friends of early childhood and puppetry. I am holding one of my most popular workshops in Santa Cruz, CA, July 30,31. People love this particular workshop because the small rod puppet is so inviting for the children and has the most wonderful movement and gesture possibilities of all the puppet styles. I look forward to seeing my puppet friends at this workshop! Do feel free to contact me directly via the contact form if you still need more information, or sign up to the monthly newsletter.
continue readeingPosted by Suzanne, on January 3rd, 2010
Little January Poem
Here is a sweet poem which is even nicer when told with puppets. During the early years of childhood when developing language is one of the major achievements, we can support this big job by helping the children find and fine tune their 'listening' ability. When we add a visual piece to the spoken story or verse, we engage the sense of sight as well as hearing. As children are most adept in seeing the world, this skill helps 'hold' them in the imaginative picturing the puppet story creates, giving their hearing organs more time to take in the quality of the words. In a sense, time to 'digest' and process the spoken story.
continue readeingPosted by Suzanne, on January 1st, 2010
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