| My earliest recollection of being interested in puppets | | | | style. |
| was at the age of 3 or 4, fascinated with Shari Lewis | | | | I often dreamed of some day passing the ability on to |
| and her ventriloquism! I also remember Kukla, Fran and | | | | some young enthusiastic person. I know that just the |
| Ollie (we are talking the early 1960's), Danny O'Day and | | | | right amount of encouragement can mean a lifetime of |
| Farfel and on Channel 5 in Boston, we had Bozo the | | | | fun and profit in a field such as puppetry! Over the |
| clown, a program that featured puppets and costumed | | | | years, my broadcasting career progressed into |
| characters. I remember making a puppet out of | | | | television production. Somewhere in the middle I |
| cardboard in third grade and then experimented later | | | | learned how to make websites and stream audio and |
| with old socks! Before too long I was the oldest kid on | | | | video on the internet. I suddenly and literally woke up |
| the block who enjoyed watching Sesame Street and I | | | | one day and realized that I had a lot of fascinating |
| took a lot of ridicule until I made a bunch of puppets, a | | | | resources that I could now utilize in order to create |
| stage and started doing puppet shows everywhere! | | | | puppets and pass on the ability to many! |
| The schools and churches had plenty of work for me | | | | I owe a lot to E-Bay and some of the people who buy |
| to do but I soon discovered that people paid good | | | | and sell puppets there. Without them I would have |
| money to have puppet shows at birthday parties! | | | | never discovered the demand for certain kinds of |
| As a young adult I still enjoyed doing puppets but was | | | | puppets. Having had a lot to do with ministry most of |
| not making enough money to pay the bills so I got into | | | | my adult life, I realized how expensive puppets were (if |
| Radio Broadcasting. As that career flourished I still | | | | you have to buy them). I have always seen a need for |
| found myself making puppets and doing shows.... There | | | | resources in the area of Children's Ministry. Too often |
| were costume puppet mascots, live remote | | | | churches simply do not have a budget for the kids and |
| broadcasts, grand openings and benefit fund raisers. | | | | even more often, the children's church pastor or |
| Yes, as far back as I can remember, puppets have | | | | Sunday School teacher pays for resources out of |
| always been a major part of my life! | | | | their own pocket! Serving Children's Ministries, my |
| There was a lot of difficulty during those years. | | | | puppets are VERY EASY to make but do require |
| Puppeteers do not like to pass around their secrets! I | | | | adult supervision because of the use of scissors, |
| was forced to figure things out for myself. Due to the | | | | sewing needles and melted hot glue. |
| popularity of the Muppets, I felt that my puppets should | | | | The materials required to make your puppets are |
| have mouths that move when they talk. This technique | | | | inexpensive and easy to obtain. Everything you need |
| is called lip synchronization (lip-sync). It is the art of | | | | can be found in your local Wal-Mart, Fabric Store or |
| making the puppet's mouth move to the rhythm of the | | | | Craft Shop! There is nothing that generates more |
| dialog. These skills are neccesary for anyone who | | | | excitement in kids (and adults) of all ages than a |
| aspires to become a puppeteer. | | | | well-rehearsed puppet show! What a way to get a |
| Most professional puppeteers are also puppet makers. | | | | message across! |
| They make their own puppets unique to their own | | | | |