Break a Leg, er, Finger

In honor of this week’s Carnival of Homeschooling theme of “Fun,” (up tomorrow) this post is about a fun past-time over here, puppet shows.

My gift to the kids this past Christmas was a Puppet Theater. You really don’t need a store-bought model, but I found a sale and we’ve dramatized over this enough to pay for it several times.

We began with about a dozen puppets I gathered from various stores, and I’m such a frugal shopper that I found them all for between $1 and $5 – and some free, if you count the socks and gloves. I’m still on the lookout for some reasonably priced little boy and little girl (normal-looking children) puppets, so if you know of a deal, pass it on. I will not pay $15 for a puppet, so don’t bother passing that information along.

Our initial “plays” consisted of bopping the other’s puppet over the head and spiraling into wild screams and laughter. This is all good, but sometimes you want a little more. :-)

Occasionally, I visit the Well-Trained Mind swap board, and that’s where I discovered our first scripts. Thank you, Kristin!! There’s this amazing homeschool mom on a farm in Nebraska, Kristin Greenhalgh, who’s written several Christian-themed Puppet Script books. I ordered every single one, and you can find them here. We’ve performed several of these, and most are perfect for 1-4 children of a variety of ages, maybe ages 6-12. My favorites are The Reason for the Seasons volumes, covering every holiday from Advent to Yom Kippur.

I told Kristin many months ago that I’d review her books here, so considered them reviewed: A+. Along with the Seasons scripts, Kristin has written Walking with God, 16 short scripts depicting important steps in the Christian walk. We like “Taming the Tongue.” Her scripts aren’t cheesy or tacky like some I’ve seen, but have very age appropriate dialogue. The third series, Living Like Jesus, includes 20 short scripts teaching Christ-like character traits and virtues. Great discussion questions follow each script, and when I say short, they are 1-2 pages long, perfect for young performers.

You may also be interested in some online scripts that you can download for free. Reader’s Theater Editions has dozens of free scripts adapted from stories written by Aaron Shepard and others – lots of myths and tall tales. Reader’s theatre is different from puppet theater, but I’ve easily modified them. My kids especially enjoyed taking to the stage with The Baker’s Dozen.

Acting and playmaking is such a wonderful, creative outlet for children. For homeschoolers, consider practicing a play with your own family or joining with another family, and put on a show for friends and relatives. You certainly don’t need the traditional “school play” model preventing your homeschooling kids from putting on a grand production!