Nursery World - The twentieth Puppet Animation Festival

The twentieth Puppet Animation Festival, the UK's oldest and largest performing arts festival for children, got off to a good start when Chameleon Puppets and Kidgloves Puppets visited Liberton Nursery in Edinburgh for a puppet show and a workshop. Ken Hardie of Kidgloves Puppets said that he likes children to interact with the puppets in a pantomime style and found the four- and five-year-olds at Liberton very enthusiastic. Using familiar stories, such as 'Little Red Riding Hood' and the 'Three Billy Goats Gruff', Mr Hardie weaves together a selection of stories of five to ten minutes each to make a show that invites audience participation.

Ken Hardie of Kidgloves Puppets said that he likes children to interact with the puppets in a pantomime style and found the four- and five-year-olds at Liberton very enthusiastic. Using familiar stories, such as 'Little Red Riding Hood' and the 'Three Billy Goats Gruff', Mr Hardie weaves together a selection of stories of five to ten minutes each to make a show that invites audience participation.

Colleen Magennis of Chameleon Puppets then helped the children to create their own jointed rod puppets, encouraging them to create a certain person or animal, and to give their puppet a character. She said, 'The children grasped the concept very quickly, making some beautiful puppets, which were very much to their own designs.'

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