Microsoft Word - Puppet Lab Sheet.docx

Space Puppets

Astronaut Annie Bag Puppet from Rachelle Belair-Gendron @ Pinterest; Alien Finger Puppets from Baker Ross: Crafts for Teachers

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Background:

Puppetry originated around 3000 years ago. Some believe that it originated in China, in the form of

shadow puppetry. Others believe it originated in India. Some puppets are very simple to make and

use, but others are very complicated and need skill to use. The person who works the puppet and

makes it move is a puppeteer. There are many different types of puppets to be found around the

world. Puppetry is a special art form that is very important in some cultures.

Types of Puppets:

• Finger Puppet: A very simple type of puppet where the puppet is placed on a finger and

worked by moving the finger.

• Hand Puppet: Similar to a finger puppet, but only larger. The puppeteer uses his fingers and

hand to work the puppet. A brown paper bag puppet and sock puppet is considered a hand

puppet.

• Shadow Puppet: Another very simple puppet. A cut out figure on a rod is held in front of a

light. Its shadow is projected onto a screen. The puppeteer moves the puppet around, giving it

some life. Sometimes colored paper is used to give a certain amount of color to the puppet.

• Marionette or String Puppet: This puppet is moved around with strings that hang from

above the theatre. This is one of the more complex types of puppetry and is hard to master as

some marionettes can have up to thirty strings.

• And many more! Learn puppet facts for kids at https://kids.kiddle.co/Puppet

Artists use engineering design process similar to scientists, and often have to problem solve and use

math, technology, and science to invent their creations!

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Space Puppets

Astronaut Annie Bag Puppet from Rachelle Belair-Gendron @ Pinterest; Alien Finger Puppets from Baker Ross: Crafts for Teachers

!

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Materials:

Astronaut Paper Bag Puppet

• A brown or white paper lunch bag

• Scissors

• Coloring utensils (crayons, markers, etc.)

• Glue stick

• Astronaut Annie template, or free-style your astronaut!

Alien Peeper Finger Puppet

• Pipe Cleaner(s)

• Googly eyes or sticker eyes

• Craft Pom Poms

• Scissors

• Liquid glue or hot glue gun

• Any additional decorations or add ons! (ex. Straws, feathers, stickers, bows, etc)

Puppet 1 – Astronaut Bag Puppet

Procedure:

1. Take your Annie Astronaut template or just your paper bag and decorate it so that it can be

ready for its next mission launch!

2. Once you have colored your astronaut, use scissors to cut out the astronaut template. You

may need a little help from an adult for this one! And if you are just decorating your bag, you

can skip this step!

3. Once the Annie Astronaut is all suited up, take your glue stick and add glue to the back of the

astronaut. Now you can attach your astronaut to the paper bag.

4. Let your astronaut dry from your decorating and gluing, and in no time it’ll be ready to go!

5. Whether you decorate just your bag or use the template, once your astronaut is ready you can

use it in your next puppet show!

What was your thought process for designing and decorating your astronaut?

__________________________________________________________________________________

Space Puppets

Astronaut Annie Bag Puppet from Rachelle Belair-Gendron @ Pinterest; Alien Finger Puppets from Baker Ross: Crafts for Teachers

!

Did you take some time to brainstorm, or did you just jump right in to making your astronaut?

__________________________________________________________________________________

Did you run into any problems while creating your puppet? If so, how did you use problem-solving to

get past any issues?

__________________________________________________________________________________

Puppet 2 – Alien Peeper Finger Puppet

Procedure:

1. Pour some milk into a shallow dish or bowl until the milk covers the bottom.

2. Add some drops of food coloring on the milk. You can use a variety of colors, just be sure to

add 3-4 drops of each color.

3. Add a drop of dish soap into the center of the milk.

4. And that’s it! Watch in amazement as the colors dance across the surface of the milk!

Draw a blueprint for the design your alien finger puppet.

Space Puppets

Astronaut Annie Bag Puppet from Rachelle Belair-Gendron @ Pinterest; Alien Finger Puppets from Baker Ross: Crafts for Teachers

!

Now draw a picture of how your alien finger puppet actually turned out!

What was your thought process for designing and decorating your astronaut?

__________________________________________________________________________________

Did you run into any problems while creating your puppet? If so, how did you use problem-solving to

get past any issues?

__________________________________________________________________________________

Space Puppets

Astronaut Annie Bag Puppet from Rachelle Belair-Gendron @ Pinterest; Alien Finger Puppets from Baker Ross: Crafts for Teachers

!

Extensions:

• Try making a layered density column that you can drink! Try substituting unsweetened soft

drink mix for the food coloring, or four flavors of a sweetened mix for the sugar plus the food

coloring!

• Instead of using dish soap, try using hand soap or other cleaning liquids in your magical milk

experiment! Do you have the same outcome?

• In your rainbow reaction, make more colors to add to your rainbow by combining food

coloring together. What colors can you create?

Other resources:

https://www.bakerross.co.uk/craft-ideas/kids/alien-finger-puppets/

https://kidsactivitiesblog.com/66700/26-puppets-kids/

https://bongoau.wordpress.com/2016/01/07/teaching-science-with-puppets/

https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/puppet/399576

https://www.kennedy-center.org/education/resources-for-educators/classroom-resources/lessons-

and-activities/lessons/6-8/the-science-of-shadow-puppets/

https://zpuppets.org/stem-of-puppetry