PUPPETS COOL! Daycare and Summer Camp Workshops keep kids quiet, engaged and happy. This is a ‘seated’ activity. There is nothing physical involved. If your recreation program needs the perfect calming influence, you need PUPPETS COOL!
All three of our program are available for PA Day, After School and Summer Camp Workshops.
Please note that we sell out quickly for PA Days, so book early to avoid disappointment.
PUPPETS COOL!
(JK – Grade 8)
Puppetry Workshops
We begin by asking “What is a Puppet?” and “How does it differ from a toy or a doll?” The class explores different types of hand puppets, comparing the mechanics of a Kermit the Frog-type rod-puppet to a Cookie Monster-type live-hand puppet. Then we’ll discuss Big Bird, a walk-around, full-body puppet and solve the mystery of “How does the man inside Big Bird see where he’s going?”
The students learn how to synchronize their voices with their hand movements – so that the puppets will actually appear to speak.
After a lesson in character design (We’ll see how the position of eyes on the puppets’ faces affects our perception of their personalities) the kids create their own characters, with eyes, hair, arms, hands, etc. PUPPETS COOL! supplies all of the materials needed. There is no preparation or clean-up required from teachers, students or staff. These are no-sew/no-glue creations. They’re absolutely clean!
Once the puppets are built, there’s time for a short play (based on the award winning book, “The True Story of the Three Little Pigs”) and a rousing wrap up sing-along.
TOONS!
(Grades 2 – 8)
Animation Workshops
”TOONS!” is the In-Class Animation workshop where kids learn the principals of classic hand drawn Walt Disney and stop-motion animation. This is not a “Make a Film in a Day” programme. Our goal is to provide your students with enough technical knowledge and understanding of the medium, that they can create their own animated films as classroom, group or individual projects.
Designed for students in Grade 2 and above, we start with an examination of the phenomenon of persistence of vision and how the brain perceives rapidly-moving individual images as actual motion.
The kids will animate bouncing balls to study the animation principle of Stretch & Squash. We’ll look at, and create flip books. Then we move onto Stop Motion, where the students (following industry-standard movement charts) animate toy characters and if time allows, a short exercise in creating lip sync animation – employing the same techniques used in The Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline and other popular films.
Program Notes: The TOONS! Workshop uses iPods and free apps to encourage students to continue creating personal or group projects after the workshops end. iPods were selected as ‘lowest common denominator’ technology – everyone has access to a similar or better device. The “Stop Motion Studio” App is available for free in the App Store and works with any mobile device.
Note: There are in-App purchases available within “Stop Motion Studio”, but they are not necessary. Also, ANY Stop Motion App will be fine for your students’ ongoing personal projects. In-class tutorials on how to create camera supports, and make animated characters from found objects, help students with ongoing explorations in animation.
THE CREATURE SHOP
(Grades 1 – 8)
STE(a)M Workshops
In THE CREATURE SHOP (Grades 1 through 8), students learn how simple machines and scientific principles were and are used to create amazing motion Hollywood effects. We’ll recreate scenes from classic Science Fiction movies and learn how the use of Simple Machines played a key role in their creation.
As we look at costume and forced perspective-based effects, your students will be menaced by a giant gorilla (sorry about the bananas)!
We’ll see how animatronic creatures can be made from simple hardware store items. Finally, we’ll make an Interstellar Blob of Protoplasm to obey our commands!
Following a look at how gears transmit, speed up or slow down power and torque, students construct and keep gear-chain powered, wooden Gear-Bots.
Puppets-Cool! 