Hi!  I am Jill Morris and was a puppeteer for 25 years in Des Moines, Iowa and then Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Although I performed for cities, companies, libraries, parties, etc.  my emphasis was on teaching teachers how to use puppets in the classroom.   I no longer perform, but still sell my puppets at Early Education conventions/events.   I sell over 200 puppets on-line--Dakin, Folkmanis, Russ and others, plus scripts and other puppet related materials.   Check out my store at:  ShopCreativelyYours.us

Welcome CY!

Welcome to Puppets and Stuff Cy............ I can call you that right. I added your link ShopCreativelyYours.us

looks like you got lot of stuff to share with us. Make yourself right at home.

Billy D.

Welcome!!  Look forward to hearing more about your experiences.  I am from Iowa and interestingly I lived in Tulsa, OK for about 6 months too!  Where did you work performing puppets in both Des Moines and Tulsa?  Again, welcome and look forward to hearing more!!  I am in the process of writing a class to teach teachers how to use puppets in their classroom and would love to hear more about what you did.  I feel puppetry is an underutilized tool that can make learning SO much more effective!

In Iowa I worked at libraries, town celebrations, company parties and lots of birthday parties.  I was born in Des Moines, and graduated from Drake University with a bachelors in Magazine and Book Journalism with a minor in Advertising.  The advertising led to the puppetry when Child Find, Inc. hired me to write and perform a puppet show to teach children about strangers.  I performed it at a fund-raiser and then in the middle of Merle Hay Mall.  After that people kept approaching me to do shows for them and before long, I had more Puppet jobs than Advertising jobs.  I have written five books for children  under the name Jill Hierstein-Morris.  One is a Puppet Pattern book.  I moved to Tulsa in 1991.  I have worked the same venues here, plus Mayfest, fire stations, etc.  I did workshops for teachers in both states, also taught "Exercising Your Imagination" and "Improvisation" in the Tulsa School System--Elementary, Middle School and High School.  I've been in an Improv troupe for over 3 years, and act in local plays. 
In my programs regarding using puppets in the classroom, I took puppets and made all the participants put them on, went through how to use them, and how they could be incorporated into each school subject.  I also talked about how it is easier for a child to talk to a puppet than a person for drawing out feelings and problems.  Also listening when they are in "free play" with puppets, to see what the child is concerned about.   

Thanks for explaining!  You have had a LOT of fun experiences!! Are your books still available - can I look for them on Amazon?   

Cy, it sounds like you have had some fun and meaningful experiences working with puppets in a variety of different settings.  I'm particularly interested in learning more about how you put together your workshops for teaching teachers how to incorporate puppets into their classrooms. I know in the little bit I've been able to interact with kids with puppets I seen them really open up.  Sometimes with me and other time with the puppet.

They are on Amazon now, but they don't stock them, so when I go on vacation or am working a story out of town, I have to pull them because they require shipment within 24 hours of the time they send me the order.  It is much faster and easier to order them from my website.  ShopCreativelyYours.us

Thanks
Jill

Thanks for the info!  That explains why when I checked on Amazon they said out of stock!

Hello CY and welcome to the site!!