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Shadow puppetry to act out stories and myths from world cultures and religions
Group Size: 1 Ages: 9-12 When or where to use activity: class activity taking up 1 to 6 teaching hours possibly resulting in performance. Materials needed:
desk top size screen(s) and desk lamp(s) for class activities; large screen and overhead projector for performances; black posterboard, paper fasteners, straws/bbq skewers, tape. Complete list at http://www.hvanrossum.com/howto.html#tools (desk top puppetry), for large screen add transparencies and permanent markers
Description:
Shadow puppetry is a very flexible tool to act out stories and myths from various religions. I have used it many times when teaching at our congregation, including for stories in the curriculum "stories about God" and "Why do bad things happen." A recent 5 minute performance of "Pandora's box" (4th/5th grade), used for a children's worship, can be viewed at http://www.hvanrossum.com/greekmyths.html#group . I have put up a website with complete instructions for teachers about using shadow puppetry at http://www.hvanrossum.com/teaching.html .
(Wednesday, April 09, 2008 at 17:41:52 (CDT))Gaura Devi play adapted from "Spinning Tales, Weaving Hope" by Brody et al.
by Karen Barker A Holiday Lawsuit
Group Size: as few as 11, but could be a very large group
Ages: all ages
When or where to use activity: Christmas Pageant. Materials needed: see costume descriptions
Description:
When or where to use activity: Children's? worship service. Materials needed:
props:
dragon puppet or toy, letter in envelope, several academic-looking books, lightweight cape, preferably black
Description:
Harry Potter Meets Larry Cotter skit for chapel
(based on characters from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling, 1997, Scholastic Press)
(Saturday, June 09, 2001 at 18:32:00 (EDT))
Friendly Beasts
Group Size: Any
Ages: Any
When or where to use activity: Christmas.
Materials needed:
None Required
Description:
This is a followup to the Friendly Beasts item already posted. Our congregation used this for our holiday intergenerational service this year. We were not able to find any additional verses so we wrote some. If anyone is interested we would send them to you. We would also share detailed ideas for the "costumes". This was very successful and enjoyed by all.
(Sunday, December 24, 2000 at 16:26:41 (EST))
The Terrible Things by Eve Bunting
Group Size: 5-15
Ages: 6-10
When or where to use activity: Could be done as Time for Younger Folk during service; Holocaust service or social action service.
Materials needed:
Large cardboard for backdrop (I used the carton a bulletin board came in, it made a nice tri-fold backdrop that stood up by itself), construction paper, double sided tape, markers, sequins, self-stick velcro, glue, 2 black leather gloves (we used an old pair of ladies gloves), several 24" long flat sticks
Description:
This will all make more sense once you have read the story.
Backdrop: From construction paper, make trees, clouds, sun, and a pond. Use double sided tape to adhere to cardboard, holds better than glue. For the pile of rocks, we attached small pieces of cardboard to the edges of the construction paper, which were then attached to the backdrop, which held the "rocks" away from the backdrop. the rock pile should large enough to cover the little bunny - we slipped him up behind the rockpile at the appropriate time.
Puppets: We made the stick puppets for the bunnies - I drew them on cardboard, then the kids added construction paper and cotton to the shapes. We attached them to the flat sticks with tape. We just had the Little Rabbit and the Big Rabbit, but you could make more.
For the other animals, I cut out the shapes from cardboard, the children covered them with construction paper, and we attached self-stick velcro loop to the backs. We put pieces of self-stick velcro hook on the backdrop, and stuck all the animals in place. We found that very small pieces of loop were all you need, if you used too much velcro it was too hard to pull the animals off. For the Terrible things, we made amorphous black shapes out of construction paper, glued on shiny sequin eyes, and attached the shapes to the backs of the black gloves. One of my creative first graders also made a "net" by weaving pieces of black construction paper together, stapling them, and fastening it to a stick.
Staging: We have a small clothes rack that was just the right height, I covered it with some of those cheap plastic tablecloths in a dark green, and that is where the puppeteers hid. The backdrop was up on the altar.
The narrator had a copy of the text from the book. I blacked out the lines that were to be spoken by the Terrible Things. There were four puppeteers - the two rabbits, one child with two Terrible Things gloves, and one child with the net. I made a copy of the script and taped it up behind the curtain, so the Terrible things and net puppeteers could anticipate when they were to appear. A fourth grader was the reader. The rest of the children who came that Sunday were the "Terrible Things" chorus - they had an adult prompter, with cue cards, and they recited the Terrible Things' lines, with their "thundering" voices. Each time the Terrible Things appeared, the animals they came for were removed from the backdrop. When they came for the rabbits, the Little Rabbit slipped up behind the "rocks" and hid, then hopped away at the end. We had one rehearsal before the service, and it went great!
(Monday, February 21, 2000 at 19:49:28 (EST))
Easter Stories - acted-out
From: Gaia Brown <GaiaBrown@aol.com>
We have done "Beginnings" stories at Easter, illustrated by various media--for
instance, a family who had spent time in Japan donned traditional dress and
illustrated the Japanese story in the Fahs book with giant origami.
My slide collection provided pictures for a different story each year. LIttle
girls would dance the story of "Spider Woman" from the Merlin Stone book.
The possibilities were endless.
The Friendly Beasts
Group Size: Any
Ages: K-Adult
When or where to use activity: Holidy Pageant.
Materials needed:
Simple props--decorated head bands--for each type of animal. For
example--floppy felt ears covered with cotton balls for the sheep.
Description:
Last year (1997) we had a "no-practice" pageant in which the whole
congregation participated--not just the kids and it was a total success.
Here's how it went. We used the song "The Friendly Beasts" as the theme.
The RE committee made "costumes" that were basically some kind of head gear
to represent each of the animals in the song--there are lots and lots of
verses if you do some digging--and figured out what sound the animal would
make or some kind of jesture approprite for the animal. For example, the
sheep had floppy ears--a piece of white felt that just draped over the head
with cotton balls glued on--and made the sound "baa, baa"; the camels had
a cardboard headband with ribbon and bells and they had to sway from side
to side as though giving someone a ride in the desert. Basically we just
used our imagination and read the verses if we got stuck for an idea. As
people arrived they could pick which animal they wanted to be--doves, donkeys,
camels, mice, cows, etc. We gave them their "costume" and directions as to
what they had to say or do when it was their turn in the song. People were
encouraged NOT to share their sound or action with anyone else. We sang the
song in unison but when the verse for an animal came up, anyone who was that
animal (and they could sit anywhere in the church) had to stand up and to
their part. The sheep had to "baa, baa, baa" their way through their verse
while everyone else sang the words; the doves had to "coo, coo, coo", etc.
The words to the hymn "The Friendly Beasts" can be found in "Singing the
Living Tradition". However it does not contain enough verses for an entire
pageant. There is a book called "The Friendly Beasts" by Karen L. Blumen
(Augsburg Fortress, 1997 ISBN: 0-8066-3330-1) that contains more verses.
A search on the internet or through some of your favorite Christmas carol
books will probably give you even more. From our experience, the more verses,
the more characters, and the more interesting a pageant. One woman was the
narrator and one class of children came in dressed as Mary, Joseph, the
shepherds, angels, etc. The three men who were camels really got into the
spirit and totally brought the house down. By some coincidence they were
sitting close together and all were wearing maroon sweaters. Everyone loved
it!!! Some people refused to give up their "costumes" and wore them through
the post pageant party and home. Adults and children alike are asking if
we're going to do something like that again. Probably not this year but we'll
