"Gratitude is the vessel that we lift to the gods, that they may fill it with their wonder gifts"
R. Steiner
Full Moon Fairy Ring Tale
A Full Moon Tale Looking Through the Honey Jar Here is a story inspired by a fairy ring that grew in our yard in British Columbia.... My children and my friends spent many a full moon night making wishes in the fairy ring.... Here is what wikipedia says about the mysterious and wonderful fairy ring phenomenon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy_ring The story below is from my May story newsletter - to see it in full click here Story Theme - Awakening Wonder Whenever we can bring warm and joyful wonder to the world around us, and share that with a child, we change the soul of a child forever. We must genuinely feel the wonder in our own inner life first, and then it will clothe the ...
continue readeingPosted by Suzanne, on May 5th, 2012
Boulder, CO – Puppetry and Felting Events 2012
Juniper Tree School of Puppetry Arts & Larkspur Felting School Boulder, CO Events 2012 March 24-26 Language Dev./Storytelling/Puppetry - Lifeways Boulder May 5 - Needle-Felting Fairy Tale Tapestries July 20-22 - The Four Seasons Rod Puppet Course August 11,12 - Felting Festival for Early Childhood Teachers/Parents September 2012 - June 2013 A Felting Arts Training Course Level 1 Begins! Director Suzanne Down http://junipertreepuppets.com http://larkspurfeltingchool.weebly.com Suzanne@junipertreepuppets.com Find us on Facebook - Juniper Tree Puppets, Larkspur Felting ...
continue readeingPosted by Suzanne, on March 9th, 2012
New England 5 Day course June 2012 – The Mother Rod Puppet
The Mother Archetype - Touched into Being The Healing of the Mother and Baby Rod Puppet A 5-day Professional Development Week for ECE Keene, NH June 26-30 2012 Join us for 5 days of early childhood professional development where we focus on The Mother Archetype and the sense of Touch/Warmth/Life, and it's meaning for our children. We will develop beautiful and meaningful Mother Rod Puppets and Babies, and delve into how to imbue them with healing gestures and ensoul them with the therapeutic virtues of the soul's power. We will create stories that make our children feel safe in the mother's arms, so they will trust the world around them and know that all is well in the kindgom....
continue readeingPosted by Suzanne, on March 6th, 2012
Mother Earth – The Four Season Puppet
Mother Earth - The Four Season Puppet A Workshop Day for ECE Teachers and Parents Held at the Washington DC Waldorf School April 22 10:00 - 4:00 Join us for this delightful Sunday Workshop for Early Childhood Teachers and Parents. Our theme is Mother Earth, as a beloved and meaningful character for our children. She is the wise story guide that reveals the magic and wonder of the four seasons of the year. We could say she may just be the one puppet you most want in your repertoire! We will create beautiful Mother Earth Table/Lap Puppets and work with ensouling them in a truthful and archetypal way, one that will be worthy ...
continue readeingPosted by Suzanne, on March 5th, 2012
The Healing Art of the Protection Story
The Healing Art of the Protection Story A Regional ECE Workshop - All Welcome Location - Asheville, NC April 28,29 Sat. 9-4/Sun. 9-12 Today’s children need to be reassured that all is right with their world. We want to provide them with a childhood where they can breathe deeply, sleep well, and feel safe. One of the best ways to bring peace and healing imagination to them is through stories and puppet theater. In this weekend we will explore several aspects of therapeutic and artistic story and puppetry that you can use immediately in your classrooms and homes. We will explore how to create ‘protection stories’ to surround our children with confidence in the world – We will develop them in story voice, story creation, gesture, puppet making, and artistic ...
continue readeingPosted by Suzanne, on February 10th, 2012
Valentines Story – The Valentine Baker of Pink
This story is from Juniper Tree Puppet's February story newsletter 2012 - image by feltsewgood February is the valentines month, a special time to make magic for children, but how do we do that in a meaningful way. I have always used the power of a story and a puppet play to help create a celebratory mood around the 'smaller' special days. Story serves as an antidote to the commercialization of life. The Valentine Baker of Pink Once on an island in the Pacific North West, there was a little village called Pink. It was a funny name for a town, but it was named Pink after all the thousands upon thousands of cherry blossoms that bloomed there early each spring. The townspeople were very proud ...
continue readeingPosted by Suzanne, on February 6th, 2012
A New Year Story – The Four Brothers – adapted for puppetry
here is a story from our story newsletter Jan. 2012 - to sign up for this free monthly newsletter please CLICK HERE for upcoming rod puppet workshop in Fair Oaks california on the Four Season Rod Puppet CLICK HERE New Year Story - The Four Brothers an old tale adapted for puppetry by Suzanne Down It was early in the year, and still cold snowy winter. A poor mother and her daughter lived in a small cottage in a village near the great woods. One morning, Mother called to Elyena and said, 'dear daughter, go to our neighbors house and ask if they have food to spare, for we now have nothing left to eat.' Elyena put on her warmest winter clothes ...
continue readeingPosted by Suzanne, on January 14th, 2012
How the Robin Got His Red Breast – adapted for puppetry
How the Robin Got it’s Red Breast (Adapted for puppetry from a French Christmas Legend) The north wind doth blow And we shall have snow And what will poor robin do then Poor thing. He’ll sit in the barn To keep himself warm And hide his head under his wing Poor thing. Late one winter’s night a lone robin flew seeking shelter. The north winds blew icy and bitter cold. The little bird looked out over the land, but saw no place to find safety. So he flew on, his wings covered with ice. After a time he saw a little light ahead. It seemed to come from a small barn. As he flew closer he saw it was a stable. At least it would protect him from the winds, so he flew in the open door and settled on the top-most rafter. He ...
continue readeingPosted by Suzanne, on December 14th, 2011
Four Seasons Rod Puppet Workshop
The Four Seasons Rod Puppet An early childhood professional development workshop for teachers, parents, homeschool, grandparents, caregivers Feb. 18,19 Fair Oaks, CA Saturday 9:00 – 4:00 Sunday 9:00 - 1:00 Nature, in all its wisdom gives children a deep sense of wonder and reliability. This workshop will look at weaving these two gifts together. We will focus on the amazing Rod Puppet. This puppet comes to life more than any other with its possibilities for subtle gesture and intimacy . I call it the ‘heart’ puppet because of this. Hearts connect between viewer and puppet. In this workshop we will look at what makes nature stories ...
continue readeingPosted by Suzanne, on December 7th, 2011
Needle Felting Fairy Tale Tapestries
Needle Felting Fairy Tale Tapestries A Workshop for Everyone! April 27, 2012 - Asheville, N.C. come join us for a delightful class on creating magic pictures with wool all levels are very welcome! these charming pictures are perfect for a child's room, or to inspire a classroom This workshop is open to all, and we will meet from 8:30 - 12:30 Cost will be $35 plus $15 materials contact ashley for registration and details amdambrosi@gmail.com Suzanne Down is longtime Director of Juniper Tree School of Story and Puppetry Arts, and travels to share her passion for story arts internationally
continue readeingPosted by Suzanne, on December 2nd, 2011
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