Everyday Arts Challenge: Shadow Show
Make shadow puppets on the wall. Create a two character story—a character for your left hand and one for your right hand—and perform a puppet show.
Puppets, Theater

Cuesheet: A Brown Bear, a Moon, and a Caterpillar: Treasured Stories by Eric Carle
People have used puppets to tell stories, entertain, or teach lessons for thousands of years. In this performance, puppets act out the stories and drawings from Eric Carle's classic picture books The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, and Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me.
Puppets, Animals, Theater, Backstage

Cuesheet: Marionetas de la Esquina of Mexico's Sleeping Beauty Dreams
Sleeping Beauty Dreams reimagines the classic fairytale, using humorous storytelling and whimsical puppetry to awake the sleeping princess as never before
Folklore, Puppets, Latin America

Theme: Animals
How does an actor become a chihuahua? How do you get a school of fish to perform on on a dry stage? Jump into the animal kingdom with both flippers!
Animals, Folklore, Nature, Puppets

Lesson: The Science of Shadow Puppets
Through online learning tools and the creation of shadow puppets and plays, students will learn how light interacts with matter.
Literature, Science, Puppets

Arts Days: February 19, 1968: Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
With his gentle demeanor and signature cardigan sweater, Fred Rogers has helped generations of children make better sense of the complicated world around them.

Better known to young fans as Mister Rogers, the host speaks directly to children about everything from coping with divorce to a fear of the dark—topics other children’s shows typically avoid. He also hangs out with various puppet and human friends, like Daniel Striped Tiger and Officer Clemmons. Rogers “travels” back and forth between the real world and the Neighborhood of Make-Believe to help children learn to make that important distinction.

Original episodes stopped airing in the summer of 2001, but you can still spend quality time with Mister Rogers in reruns.
Puppets, Popular Culture, Television, Innovators & Pioneers

Video: In Performance: Leo Lionni's Swimmy
A tiny, fast-moving, black fish-that's Swimmy! He lives in the ocean with all his little red brothers and sisters. They are a happy school (that's a group) of fish.
Animals, Literature, Puppets, Theater

Video: In Performance: Leo Lionni's Inch by Inch
How does a little inchworm survive in a garden full of hungry birds?
Animals, Literature, Puppets, Theater

Video: In Performance: Leo Lionni's Frederick
While the family of field mice works hard to gather food for the long, cold winter, Frederick seems to be doing nothing!
Animals, Literature, Puppets, Theater

Cuesheet: Baobab
Explore the rich storytelling traditions of West Africa, from music to puppetry, in this mythical tale of one courageous child’s quest to change the history of the world.
Africa, Folklore, Puppets, Theater, Dance

Theme: Life Cycles
Discover patterns and cycles in nature with these resources that address cell composition and reproduction, animal habitats, and the metamorphasis of a caterpillar to a butterfly.
Animals, Nature, Plants, Puppets, Science

Lesson: Puppets on the Move: China and the Silk Road
Through map-making, research, and class discussions, students will gain an understanding of the dynamics of trade in China along the Silk Road.
Asia, Geography, History, Puppets, World Cultures

Video Series: Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia: Backstage Tour
Go backstage with the artists of Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia to learn about the skill and creativity they use to bring charcters to life, and what it's like to be a professional puppeteer on the road.
Puppets, Literature, Jobs in the Arts, Backstage, Theater

Video Series: Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical
A Kennedy Center production about family, best friends, baby steps, and memories that last a lifetime.
Theater, Puppets, Literature, Animals, Jobs in the Arts

Video Series: Hobey Ford: Animalia
Together with his team of adorable "Foamies," Hobey makes animals of all sorts emerge in movement and music to form a full-on puppet ballet. Watch as the habits and habitats of the world's mightiest beasts and tiniest bugs come into furry focus right before your eyes.
Animals, Jobs in the Arts, Nature, Puppets, Science

Video Series: Jason and the Argonauts
This video series explores a dramatic interpretation of the Greek myth Jason and the Argonauts.
Folklore, Puppets, Greece, Theater, Literature

Theme: Africa
Discover the real story of the Lion King and the rich tapestry of sounds from North African cultures.
Africa, Animals, Dance, Folklore, Music, Puppets, World Cultures

Arts Days: September 24, 1936: TV’s Muppet Man
Perhaps the most famous puppeteer of all, Jim Henson turned the piles of fabric and fur known as Kermit the Frog, Rowlf the Dog, and Ernie (as in Bert and Ernie) into loveable characters. In Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, Henson’s wonderful, wisecracking animal and people puppets educated and entertained children.

It was important to Henson to create work that would appeal to people of every age. His puppets might have been teaching youngsters to count, but he also made sure they threw out a few asides to amuse their parents, too. Nothing gave the modest Mississippi native more pleasure than making people laugh and enjoying the magic of puppetry.
Puppets, Television, Innovators & Pioneers, Comedy, America, Popular Culture

Arts Days: December 27, 1947: Say Kids, What Time Is It?
The freckle-faced marionette Howdy Doody was the star puppet in this early children’s TV show, the very first regular network series to be broadcast in color. Set in the imaginary town of Doodyville, the show also featured human characters like Clarabell the Clown, who communicated with beeps of a horn on his belt and did not speak a word until the final episode of the show.

Then there were the characters that started as puppets but were later performed by people, like Princess Summerfall Winterspring, played by Judy Tyler. Buffalo Bob Smith provided the voice for Howdy, and he would also speak directly to the kids in the on-set “peanut gallery,” and he sang the show’s theme song in every episode.
Comedy, Innovators & Pioneers, Television, Puppets, Popular Culture, Young Artists

Arts Days: November 10, 1969: Street Smarts
Breaking new ground in the realm of children’s television, Sesame Street was one of the first shows to combine entertainment and education for young viewers. With a mix of appealing actors of all ethnicities, plus puppets created by Jim Henson, the show uses songs, dances, skits, animated sequences, and other vehicles to help kids learn about letters and numbers.

Moral messages—the importance of being kind, why it’s always best to tell the truth—are also communicated to audiences by the human and puppet stars of the show. From Big Bird, Elmo, Bert, Ernie, and Oscar the Grouch to Bob, Gordon, Maria, and Mr. Hooper, the cast has taught and continues to teach generations of children “the basics” while strolling down Sesame Street.
Innovators & Pioneers, Television, Education, Puppets, Cartoons, Comics, & Animation, America

Video Series: Sogolon Puppet Theater
Sogolon is the puppet show and theatrical company created by Yaya Coulibaly in order to perpetrate and promote the Mali puppet tradition. The group's core mission is to contribute to develop and promote the Bamanan-Somono-Bozo puppet show.
Musical Instruments, Folklore, Music, World Cultures, Puppets, Africa

Video Series: Matt Alt: Jumbo Machinders
Matt Alt walks you through his extensive collection and explains the art and history of Japanese jumbo machinder toys.
Japan, Popular Culture, Visual Arts, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Television, Puppets

Multimedia Series: War Horse: Creating the Play
How do you bring a horse to life on stage? Find out with the video and image clips that give you a glimpse of the amazing puppetry that makes audiences forget Joey the horse isn’t a real animal.
Animals, Backstage, Broadway, History, Europe, Puppets

Audio: Knuffle Bunny: Page to Stage
Follow the process of bringing Mo Willems’s beloved children's book to the stage. Commissioned by The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, this world-premiere musical tells the story of Trixie, her parents, and Trixie's favorite stuffed animal, Knuffle Bunny. This fun musical features an up-beat score by Michael Silversher with lyrics by Mo Willems.
Theater, Jobs in the Arts, Music, Puppets, Literature, Musicals, Backstage

Video: Japanese Robots!
At the forefront of hyperculture, Japan's robots are at once amazing works of art and fantastic feats of engineering. Japan has been at the vanguard of global robot development and technology since the 1970s and continues to invent new ways these machines can aid, entertain, and inspire mankind.
Asia, Visual Arts, Popular Culture, Japan, Innovators & Pioneers, Inventions, Science, Puppets