It’s time to create another puppet. For some reason, a beatnik character keeps churning around in my head. As with any puppet, creating a character on paper is the first step. I use MS Paint to “draw” my characters, since you wouldn’t be able to tell my puppet design from a bunch of shapes drawn in kindergarten class otherwise!

My plan is to use the Project Puppet Punto pattern for my puppet’s elongated head. I’m going to use non-pill fleece for this puppet’s “skin” since antron (Muppet) fleece is a bit expensive and harder to come by. I’m on a budget and mainly doing this puppet for practice. His hair and goatee/moustache will be fake fur in a dark color, and his turtleneck a fun courderoy fabric I found. For his vest, I’m going to use a tapestry-type fabric I found at my local fabric store.

My initial plan is to paint his eyes onto the back of the glasses so they show through as slits. I may try a few tests to see how this works. If I don’t like the effect, I can always make typical ping-pong ball eyes and put the glasses on over them.

I also want him to have a bongo (as he should) so I plan to either purchase a small toy drum, or make one out of a plastic container. It depends on availability of materials.

He’ll have removeable arm rods, so I’ll be able to have him hold the drum, or have his arms free to move, whichever I choose.

This weekend is build time! Wish me luck!

While attending college at Illinois State University, I was lucky enough to enroll in a Puppetry Arts class. The class was fairly basic, and included some of the rich history of puppetry, some basic performance skills, and some very basic puppet-making. One of the “projects” we did involved very simple “Balloon Marionettes.” We did a group performance using these very simple puppets as part of our assignment.

After college, I had the fortune of traveling with the group “Up with People” for a year. We traveled all over the United States and Europe, performing in a musical show and performing “community service” activities in the places we visited. One of the things we frequently were asked to do was to appear in local classrooms, discussing our group. If you are unfamiliar with “Up with People,” their main purpose is to bring the world together through music and performance. We frequently discussed diversity and tolerance of those who are different when we went into those classrooms.

I was asked by a school teacher in Germany to “teach” a class for her while I was visiting. She wanted a simple workshop that would tell her students what the group I was traveling with was all about. I had told her that I had studied Elementary Education in college, and had even taught for a short time. I also had told her I was a puppeteer. A light bulb went off over my head, and a simple puppetry workshop was created.

The first step? Build the marionettes!

Balloon marionettes are among the simplest of puppets to build.

Required Materials:

• Assorted Balloons (multiple shapes, sizes and colors are best)
• 2 Identical balloons (Any color, size, shape is fine, but the two should be the same)
• Card-stock
• Construction paper, tissue paper, or any type of drawing paper
• Crayons, markers, or paint
• Scissors
• Clear tape or glue
• Yarn or string
• Popsicle sticks or unsharpened pencils
• Anything else you’d like to use for decoration (buttons, beads, etc.) as long as it’s small enough and light enough to be taped or glued to a balloon.

For the instructor’s puppets, make two identical marionettes. It is easiest if you make one ahead of time, then duplicate it’s creation as instruction for the class.

• Blow up the balloon. Make sure it’s large enough to work with, but don’t over inflate it or it will pop. If a balloon breaks, try again with another! Knot the end.

• Draw feet onto a piece of card stock. If working with younger students, it can be helpful to have them pre-drawn and ready to cut out. The feet should be slightly larger than the balloon. Older students can get creative and make webbed feet, paws, shoes, sandals, or bare-feet. Whatever they feel inspired to create!

• Cut out the feet and use a small dab of glue or a loop of tape to attach them to the bottom side of the balloon (the side away from the knot). This should allow the balloon to stand up on it’s own. (Remember that glue takes awhile to dry. If you are short of time, use small pieces of clear tape to hold the feet in place.)

• Draw, paint, or cut out eyes, noses, ears, and other features. Painting or drawing directly on the balloon takes longer to dry and can cause the balloon to pop if you press too hard. If your marionette pops, it is easier to rebuild if you don’t have to draw or paint a second time. Use clear tape or a dab of glue to fasten the features to the surface of the balloon.

• Cut a piece of yarn or string so that it is long enough to extend from the floor to about waist high. Again, string may be pre-cut for younger students. You may also choose to use a table top as a stage. Make your string enough to extend from the tabletop to about shoulder high if you do.

• Tie one end of the string to the knot on top of the balloon. Fasten the other end to a popsicle stick or unsharpened pencil as a control.

Performance is rather simple with a balloon marionette. Walking involves a “bouncing” movement. Practice bouncing your marionettes, turning them to speak to one another, and generally moving them around. Lengthen or shorten strings as necessary and reattach any features that cause problems.

Next we’re on to the actual performance!