May Day Puppet Play

If you’ve seen a Waldorf early childhood puppet show, you don’t need to be convinced of its magic. Puppetry is a roadway for the young child to connect deeply with the story being told and foster their blossoming imagination. Here are the tools you need to bring a Waldorf puppet show right into your home.

You can stage the story as a puppet play for their children if they wish. Or, parents and/or children could make the puppets and use them to act out the story along with the audio recording.

Papier Maché Finger Puppets

By Grace Rahn, Huckleberry Assistant Teacher

This is an artistic and tactile project where the sky’s the limit with creativity and what kind of puppet and stories you and your children can think of. Learn this simple process with materials found around your home and get to work making these unique little characters. You can keep them super simple while still accomplishing a rich experience. Or go crazy with lots of knick knacks, glitter, bling bling etc.

Materials 
Flour
Warm water (enough to make it feel like cream of wheat)
Newspaper 
Glue (optional) 
Empty toilet paper tubes
Masking tape
Paint & brushes
Knick knacks, glitter, pom poms, yarn (optional) 

Process: 
Cut or rip 1" x 6" strips of newspaper (about 10–15 or as needed). 

Cut off 1–2" of the toilet paper tube. You want just enough to get your fingers inside so you can work the puppet.

Put flour in a wide bowl and slowly add enough warm water to make the consistency of cream of wheat. Mix with your hands until all the lumps are gone. The amount of flour really depends on how many puppets and what size you are making. Starting with a half a cup is good. 

Crumple up newspaper into ball shape for the head and tape, then tape the head to the toilet paper tube keeping the inside of the tube free of newspaper. 

Dip each strip in the flour mixture and remove excess with your fingers. Wrap onto head form and smooth out each piece.

Cover your form with 2 coats of strips (this includes head and toilet paper tube, body)

Then paint the form white and let dry again

Paint a face and some fun patterns on the body and glue on some yarn for the hair or anything you think would help define the character of the puppet.

Scenery

Choose a flat area (like a tabletop) to serve as the puppet stage. Drape a green cloth (ideally silk or cotton) on the table for the meadow, and add some trees and small animals (trees can be small branches from a tree; use children’s toys for the animals. Animals of the meadow and/or farm are best: deer, fox, squirrel, duck, horse, mouse, etc). If possible, hang a blue cloth behind the puppet stage to represent the sky, as the puppets will be more clearly visible against a backdrop. Have your child draw a rainbow on printer paper, cut it out, and tape it to the backdrop about two feet up. Drape a white silk over the scene as the snow, which will be removed once Lady Spring arrives. Lady Spring, Sparrow, and the maypole* should be hidden from view at the beginning of the play. Tape a plain brown or grey piece of paper or cloth around Sparrow’s body to hide his rainbow colors. Make sure it can be easily removed when indicated to do so.

*For the maypole, select a straight stick (perhaps 8-12” tall) and tie colorful ribbons and/or yarn to one end, to resemble a maypole. A small lump of play dough or clay can be used as a stand for the maypole. 

Story

Story by Dylan Wilde, Cedar Rose Assistant Teacher

You can find the script here.