Re: Ideas for a class Posted by Na on Dec 11, 2008
Ok, here's some pics:
http://flickr.com/photos/66356835@N00/sets/72157611056674910/
There are more, but I kind of didn't want to plaster people's faces all over the net. I didn't get pics of all the puppets unfortunately, but I got some good ones.
As mentioned previously, the class was with participants who attend a mental health organisation. The people ranged in age, with mostly people in their 20s and 30s, and a few seniors in there too. (A class for next year is in the works, but that's youth only) There were about 12 or 13 people. I brought some of my puppets and spent maybe 30 minutes discussing some history and background of each type of puppet - bunraku, finger, glove, shadow and muppet. I passed around all the puppets so everyone could take a look and a play. Luckily, the monster puppet I made for my pattern doesn't have the head actually attached to the neck and body, so I brought it with me to help show how the muppets are constructed (that was a really good idea, I recommend doing that cause everyone could compare that with a finished one. Also, everyone seemed more taken with the muppets than anything else, and if we'd had more time I would have loved doing muppets with them too).
Then we moved on to building. I brought some worksheets with me that explained all of the stuff that I'd discussed in terms of history, as well as the patterns for the finger/glove puppets and some instructions on how to make them. (Everyone took their booklets and patterns home.) People chose which one to make, and I took them through the building; very basic stuff. We cut out the patterns from the booklets provided, then used them to cut out two pieces of felt in the same shape. Then they glued the pieces together (I put a blue dotted line on the patterns to show where to glue) and then decorated them. The mental health org. provided all the materials and tools, and there were all sorts of great things to use, from furs and fabrics, lace and felt, to beads, sequins, small googly eyes, etc (I provided them a list of possible materials, but it looks like they had a lot of the stuff already because they do craft classes as well). I tried to walk around the room and check how people were going, give them help when they needed it, etc etc.
Anyway, here's some of the good stuff:
One woman, who made a penguin finger puppet, remarked to one of the org's helpers that she thought she was coming to see a puppet show. The helper replied no, and the woman replied that it was ok, cause this was just as much fun. I'm really glad, because she had some difficulty making things with her hands (like she had arthritis) and got a little bit of help with one of the other participants.
One of the younger women tried a glove puppet, and cut out the pattern incorrectly - she added her own arms at the sides of the puppet, not realising there were arms already. I explained to her that she could remove the extra bits, but she liked it. So I told her that was cool, and to keep going and she could make a puppet out of it; that there's no wrong or right way to make a puppet. She ended up making a fantastic puppet with feathers and felt facial features (no pic provided, sorry) and seemed really happy with the results.
Another young woman made a finger puppet (the orange and green-striped one), and when I commented on how I liked the stripes, she told me it was a puppet of her dad. Apparently her dad's mum used to make him jumpers that were orange with green stripes, and so she made the puppet of him. She then asked me if she could make more (and of course, said yes, because there was still an hour left of the class) and she made one of her mum and another family member - possibly a sibling, I can't remember.
The helper also made a great finger puppet, a girl in the 50s, with a gigham skirt, googly eyes, white bead earrings and pink wool hair. She had a lot of fun. Another young woman made a dancer (pictured, with purple skirt), and had a lot of fun imagining everyone driving home with finger puppets in the windscreen
A couple of the younger guys built some finger puppets really quickly, but seemed to be bored. They spent the last hour or so sitting and chatting. I asked them (politely of course!) if they wanted to make another one, or try the glove puppet, but they were happy just chilling, so I left them to it.
There were more puppets going on, but these are the ones I wanted to touch on because they really show how people were getting into it and expressing themselves. There's one more story:
When showing my ice scream finger puppet to the group as an example of how finger puppets can be quite complex if you want them to (I also had a simpler version, made out of fabric, and another of felt). The girl who made the puppet of her dad remarked that she'd like to make one like that during the class. I kind of had to apologise and say it was a little too complicated to do now, but if she wanted me to explain it to her and she could try, she was welcome to do it. She didn't quite seem interested after that, and moved on to making the simple felt finger puppet. When we got to the building part of the class, one of the seniors asked me if she could try the ice cream, if I explained to her how to do it - she seemed very craft capable. (I should mention: I don't mean to sound so discriminating. I was happy to provide help to the younger girl, but was concerned about time...the younger girl didn't seem to mind too much about making the ice cream puppet and was just as happy to make the one provided) The senior made this wonderful version: white fleece for the cone, felt balls for the ice cream and some pillow stuffing inside. The pillow stuffing kind of poured out of the top of the cone too, which made it look like white cotton candy. The woman gave the puppet to the young girl as a gift, because she wanted the ice cream finger puppet so much.
The senior remarked that it wasn't as good as mine; I replied that it was better than mine, because it was made from the heart.
(This senior also got so taken with the monster muppet that she's now ordering the pattern for it!!)
People kind of left in small groups towards the end, and I didn't quite have a chance to say goodbye properly to some - I was busy helping someone with their puppet - but everyone seemed to be happy with their puppets and had a lot of fun. People thanked me as they left, which was such a nice thing for me because of it being my first ever class.
On my side of things, I had mentally prepared beforehand, thinking about what I was going to say and how I was going to run the class. I'm glad I did (this is an old technique developed after years of doing acting classes... not being comfortable talking in front of groups like that, some mental preparation always helps with nervousness). From the minute I walked into the centre I didn't stop and the whole thing was over so quickly! But I had a lot of fun, and it was really wonderful watching everyone put so much work and expression into their puppets. It was very rewarding.
... Ok, I think that's enough from me
I just want to thank everyone for their input on ideas and everything. Having done the class, I'm much more confident in my abilities to teach puppetry, and have so much of a better idea of how to run a class from everything I've read here.
http://flickr.com/photos/66356835@N00/sets/72157611056674910/
There are more, but I kind of didn't want to plaster people's faces all over the net. I didn't get pics of all the puppets unfortunately, but I got some good ones.
As mentioned previously, the class was with participants who attend a mental health organisation. The people ranged in age, with mostly people in their 20s and 30s, and a few seniors in there too. (A class for next year is in the works, but that's youth only) There were about 12 or 13 people. I brought some of my puppets and spent maybe 30 minutes discussing some history and background of each type of puppet - bunraku, finger, glove, shadow and muppet. I passed around all the puppets so everyone could take a look and a play. Luckily, the monster puppet I made for my pattern doesn't have the head actually attached to the neck and body, so I brought it with me to help show how the muppets are constructed (that was a really good idea, I recommend doing that cause everyone could compare that with a finished one. Also, everyone seemed more taken with the muppets than anything else, and if we'd had more time I would have loved doing muppets with them too).
Then we moved on to building. I brought some worksheets with me that explained all of the stuff that I'd discussed in terms of history, as well as the patterns for the finger/glove puppets and some instructions on how to make them. (Everyone took their booklets and patterns home.) People chose which one to make, and I took them through the building; very basic stuff. We cut out the patterns from the booklets provided, then used them to cut out two pieces of felt in the same shape. Then they glued the pieces together (I put a blue dotted line on the patterns to show where to glue) and then decorated them. The mental health org. provided all the materials and tools, and there were all sorts of great things to use, from furs and fabrics, lace and felt, to beads, sequins, small googly eyes, etc (I provided them a list of possible materials, but it looks like they had a lot of the stuff already because they do craft classes as well). I tried to walk around the room and check how people were going, give them help when they needed it, etc etc.
Anyway, here's some of the good stuff:
One woman, who made a penguin finger puppet, remarked to one of the org's helpers that she thought she was coming to see a puppet show. The helper replied no, and the woman replied that it was ok, cause this was just as much fun. I'm really glad, because she had some difficulty making things with her hands (like she had arthritis) and got a little bit of help with one of the other participants.
One of the younger women tried a glove puppet, and cut out the pattern incorrectly - she added her own arms at the sides of the puppet, not realising there were arms already. I explained to her that she could remove the extra bits, but she liked it. So I told her that was cool, and to keep going and she could make a puppet out of it; that there's no wrong or right way to make a puppet. She ended up making a fantastic puppet with feathers and felt facial features (no pic provided, sorry) and seemed really happy with the results.
Another young woman made a finger puppet (the orange and green-striped one), and when I commented on how I liked the stripes, she told me it was a puppet of her dad. Apparently her dad's mum used to make him jumpers that were orange with green stripes, and so she made the puppet of him. She then asked me if she could make more (and of course, said yes, because there was still an hour left of the class) and she made one of her mum and another family member - possibly a sibling, I can't remember.
The helper also made a great finger puppet, a girl in the 50s, with a gigham skirt, googly eyes, white bead earrings and pink wool hair. She had a lot of fun. Another young woman made a dancer (pictured, with purple skirt), and had a lot of fun imagining everyone driving home with finger puppets in the windscreen
A couple of the younger guys built some finger puppets really quickly, but seemed to be bored. They spent the last hour or so sitting and chatting. I asked them (politely of course!) if they wanted to make another one, or try the glove puppet, but they were happy just chilling, so I left them to it.
There were more puppets going on, but these are the ones I wanted to touch on because they really show how people were getting into it and expressing themselves. There's one more story:
When showing my ice scream finger puppet to the group as an example of how finger puppets can be quite complex if you want them to (I also had a simpler version, made out of fabric, and another of felt). The girl who made the puppet of her dad remarked that she'd like to make one like that during the class. I kind of had to apologise and say it was a little too complicated to do now, but if she wanted me to explain it to her and she could try, she was welcome to do it. She didn't quite seem interested after that, and moved on to making the simple felt finger puppet. When we got to the building part of the class, one of the seniors asked me if she could try the ice cream, if I explained to her how to do it - she seemed very craft capable. (I should mention: I don't mean to sound so discriminating. I was happy to provide help to the younger girl, but was concerned about time...the younger girl didn't seem to mind too much about making the ice cream puppet and was just as happy to make the one provided) The senior made this wonderful version: white fleece for the cone, felt balls for the ice cream and some pillow stuffing inside. The pillow stuffing kind of poured out of the top of the cone too, which made it look like white cotton candy. The woman gave the puppet to the young girl as a gift, because she wanted the ice cream finger puppet so much.
The senior remarked that it wasn't as good as mine; I replied that it was better than mine, because it was made from the heart.
(This senior also got so taken with the monster muppet that she's now ordering the pattern for it!!)
People kind of left in small groups towards the end, and I didn't quite have a chance to say goodbye properly to some - I was busy helping someone with their puppet - but everyone seemed to be happy with their puppets and had a lot of fun. People thanked me as they left, which was such a nice thing for me because of it being my first ever class.
On my side of things, I had mentally prepared beforehand, thinking about what I was going to say and how I was going to run the class. I'm glad I did (this is an old technique developed after years of doing acting classes... not being comfortable talking in front of groups like that, some mental preparation always helps with nervousness). From the minute I walked into the centre I didn't stop and the whole thing was over so quickly! But I had a lot of fun, and it was really wonderful watching everyone put so much work and expression into their puppets. It was very rewarding.
... Ok, I think that's enough from me
I just want to thank everyone for their input on ideas and everything. Having done the class, I'm much more confident in my abilities to teach puppetry, and have so much of a better idea of how to run a class from everything I've read here.Re: Ideas for a class Posted by LJ on Dec 11, 2008
Congratulations on a job well done and for bringing joy to those in the class! That is the most fun!! When those we are working with have big smiles then our main goal has been accomplished!! 
Re: Ideas for a class Posted by droffset on Dec 11, 2008
Looks like you did a great job, good onya !
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