from sketch to skit
Welcome to Snippets of Cardboard—Puppet Workshop from Sketch to Skit! This series of seven short videos will guide your students through a step-by-step process of making simple but effective cardboard and cloth puppets, and using them in short, collaborative drama skits. Feel free to skip back and forth depending on your grade level—for example, the introduction includes 10 masks from around the world but for younger students, one or two of these might be enough. (The whole sequence is about 53 minutes long.)
The videos have internal chapter marks that can be used to navigate—just click on the list icon on the right corner of the player, or on the dots in the progress bar.
If your class has unreliable internet, you may prefer to download the videos, and save them locally for playback. For a download link. send us an email request.
A rubric for this workshop is available as a PDF or as a downloadable Word doc.
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1. Introduction, design principles, design examples, and materials. About 8 minutes.
2. The rough copy. Three different ways to kick start the creative process and make a plan or design for the puppet. 10 minutes.
3. From rough copy to cardboard. Making the puppet: tracing the design onto cardboard, cutting it out, and two ways to add colour and features. About 14 minutes.
4. Adding handles and costumes. Two different ways to add handles; and how to use fabric to create a body. 3 minutes.
5. How to work the puppet. Holding the puppet, making gestures and actions, and taking turns in a two-puppet scene. Tips on changing your voice for puppet characters. About 7 minutes.
6. Let’s make up a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end, and let’s make sure we have a title, characters, a problem, a solution, and a great ending sentence. About 7 minutes.
7. How to work in a group. The joy of improvisation, collaboration, working together and listening to create drama. About 5 minutes.
We have prepared two booklets you can download that provide more drama and art ideas for your class.
Mask Activities and Drama Games and Activities both offer design and drama ideas that can be applied to this project, or can be used for follow-up activities.