“Making the simple complicated is commonplace. Making the complicated simple,

awesomely simple, that’s creativity.” - Charles Mingus

Resources should never come between you and creativity and cardboard is

everywhere! We can create entire shows out of just this one material. Resist the urge for

overbuilt puppets. Keep them simple and cheap and still tell your story. These skills are

also applicable to prop, costume, and set making. Learn to make mockups in cardboard

for projects before you start spending money or using up the good materials.

This workshop will introduce the properties of cardboard and techniques for joining it. A

pattern for everyone to make their own cardboard coffee cup will be provided.

Participants can follow the pattern or attempt their own creation with support from Beau.

This workshop involves sharp objects and is not recommended for children under 13.

When creating a show, I think about what the characters need to do to tell the story. I

experiment to see which puppetry style will tell my story best.

What story do you want to tell with your puppets? How are your puppet characters going to

tell that story? What style of puppets can you use to best tell that story?

Let’s look at or make some very simple versions of shadow, rod, string and hand puppets

and play with them to see how they can illustrate our specific stories. Explore how different

puppet styles have different strengths that visually tell your story and become comfortable

trying simple ways to create expressive puppets using the puppets’ natural style and

movements to show the story rather than just telling it.

Discover how artificial intelligence (AI) can become a powerful creative partner in your

puppetry practice. In this hands-on session, participants will explore easy-to-use AI

tools that support every stage of educational puppetry—from planning to performance.

We’ll look at how AI can help you design engaging lesson plans that align with state

standards, generate customized handouts and worksheets, and develop meaningful

pre- and post-show activities tailored to any puppet performance.

Whether you’re an educator, teaching artist, or performing puppeteer, this workshop will

equip you with practical strategies to streamline your workflow, expand your creative

resources, and amplify the educational impact of your shows. Come ready to learn,

experiment, and leave with an AI-empowered toolkit you can use right away! Bring your

computer/Ipad and any of your show descriptions/lessons already created to get the

most out of this workshop.

Using popsicle sticks and craft foam we will make puppets whose heads pop up and

down!

This workshop will demonstrate how to create larger puppets from easily available

materials like paper and cardboard, using methods that are quick and tools that are

readily accessible. We will focus our making on local floral and fauna. Participants will

get hands-on experience creating puppets and we will have our own impromptu puppet

parade!

Borrowing an idea from David Bizarro this is a hands-on class to turn a roll of toilet

paper into a simple rod puppet with a moving mouth mechanism. Participants will work

through the assembly and design of a puppet using a popsicle stick, an empty roll of

toilet paper, rubber band, and some hot glue.