After an extended break from puppet building and such, (I've been focusing on writing and self-publishing children's books and stories for middle-grade readers) , I've begun work on a puppetry project that will be used for street performances and school visits. I don't have a name for this "act" yet, so I simply call him SkaterDude. Here's a couple videos I put on youtube. Let me know what you think. Your comments and suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

Ha! when you said skater dude I expected a young spike haired kid.  He looks like my husband, so funny. You did a lot of work on that set up. Interesting idea.

Pretty cool!  Some how I missed this when you first posted it.

Snail.. what  part looks like your husband?
I liked the  slow motion  shots

Love it!

Snail.. what  part looks like your husband?

Glasses, balding, nerd who believes he could still do skate tricks like a kid.

Haha...I just stopped back in to read these comments. You guys are too funny. I recently performed with this guy at a couple of events for kids organized by the local parks and rec. It was part of a demonstration I call "Things on Strings". I talked about marionettes and used toys I've fitted with strings to introduce the concept of string controls. Afterwards I gave them an opportunity to try it out themselves. It was really great. Although I've been told (by my six year old granddaughter) that I need to add a few more feminine aspect to my routine. There aren't any girls or girl stuff in there. I definitely plan to do that.  Here's a couple  links to my YouTube videos showing how I used a dump truck, a front end loader and several friction powered cars and trucks. Check out my Facebook page to see photos from the event. It was pretty cool.  Anyhow, thanks for the encouragement.  I've come to rely on this website for that. I really do appreciate it.

Russell

Fun stuff with the trucks and cars. I'm going to have to do that with my five-year old. He'll love it!

That is a great idea for early learning techniques, to start with those trucks and cars, they were smooth.

It worked out really well. I tried to emphasize that the string provides a connection between them and the object. So, the object becomes an extension of themselves. They seemed to grasp that concept easily. It was a lot of fun. I'm going to add a soundtrack and start marketing this for school visits.