Aspen Art Museum

July 6: Sock Puppet

Materials:
• Sock
• Scissors
• Cardboard or chipboard
• Crayons/markers
• Yarn/colored string
• Googly eyes
• Hot glue
• Pipe cleaners
• Felt sheets

July 13: Flying Beast



Look up in the sky. It’s a bird, a dragon, a flying pig, a rocket-powered squirrel! Nope, it’s a flying beast right out of your imagination. In this lesson, we will create rod puppets out of everyday materials that can soar overhead and land at your feet.

Materials:
• Pool noodle or pipe insulation tube
• Hot glue
• Scissors
• X-Acto knife (optional)
• Recycled plastic containers—bottles, milk jugs, yogurt containers, etc.
• Two wooden dowels at least ¼ in thick and 24 in long
• Ribbon or strips of lightweight fabric
• Markers/paint
• Chipboard or cardboard

July 20: Limberjacks and Limberjills


Do you like to dance? Let’s make a puppet built for doing a jig. When you create a puppet with flexible joints, you can make it dance with just a simple bounce.

Materials:
• Around 5 feet of cord, twine, thick string, or shoelace
• Large wooden beads
• Wire coat hanger and something to cut it
• Ruler or yardstick
• Cardboard
• Markers/paint
• Scissors

July 27: Marionette



Learn how to make the classic marionette. These puppets have been used for centuries and, with a little practice, are some of the most lifelike.

Materials:
• Newspaper
• Masking tape
• Thick string (kite string or twine)
• Two wooden dowels each around 10 in and no less than ¼ in thick
• Two coins or washers
• Scissors
• Hot glue
• Lots of fun stuff for decorating

August 3: Shadow Puppet and Screen



No matter how old you are, there is always something magical about catching your shadow on the ground or a wall and watching it change and move with the light. People have been using this magic to tell stories for centuries. This lesson will guide you through making a shadow screen/theater and cut-out characters to bring your story to life.

Materials:
• Cardboard
• Chipboard
• Black paint
• Chopsticks or small wooden dowels
• Masking tape
• Hot glue
• Scissors
• X-Acto knife (optional)
• Small flashlight or cellphone light
• Wax paper or white fabric to use for shadow screen

August 10: Portal Theater



Create a world inside of a few pieces of paper. It’s like a pop-up book and a toy theater! We will be making a story world told through stacked layers of drawings. Peer through a hole and enter the world.

Materials:
• Heavy cardstock
• Standard copy paper or construction paper
• Scissors
• X-Acto knife (optional)
• Hot glue or glue stick
• Markers, crayons, and/or colored pencils

August 17: Cranky

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In this fun project, we will draw out a story on a long piece of paper. Roll that paper up on a tube, attach to another tube, and crank away! Watch your drawing come to life as it is transferred from one tube to the next.

Materials:
• Small box (ideally shoebox size or smaller)
• Two toilet paper tubes (a wrapping paper tube would work best if available)
• Markers, crayons, and/or colored pencils
• A long piece of paper around 6 ft long (receipt roll from office store works great)
• Scissors
• X-Acto knife (optional)
• Two pencils or small dowels
• Clothespin
• Hot glue