Red Ribbon Works!
A Program of Greenville Family Partnership
Name of Recipe (Activity): The Red Ribbon Storybook Puppet Show!
# of Servings (Students): 1 Classroom
Grade Level: Elementary and Middle School
Ingredients (Materials):
- 1 “The Red Ribbon, A Story of Hope” Storybook (See details on availability below.)
- 1 King Puppet Kit (See details on availability below)
- 1 Handmade Weaver Puppet with a big brown sack
- 1 Handmade Tailor Puppet
- 1 Handmade Little Girl Puppet in a tattered dress
- 1 Handmade Village Baker Lady Puppet
- 1 Handmade Homeless Old Man Puppet
- 1 Handmade Farmer Puppet
- 1 Handmade Woodsman Puppet
- 1 Puppet Stage Set
- 1 Video Recorder
- 1 Location (i.e. a school classroom, gym, auditorium, cafeteria, library, etc)
- The Most Beautiful Red Ribbon That Stretches for Miles!
- Bells, Horns, and Magic!
Note: “The Red Ribbon, A Story of Hope” Storybook and King Puppet are available through Red Ribbon Works. For pricing, call Sean Reeves at 467-4099.
Preparation Time: A few months so there will be enough time for the students to get more familiar with the storybook, to make the puppets, and to build the stage set so things will look really nice!
Length of Time to Cook: 1 hour
Directions: Recruit students, parents, and teachers to help in the planning and implementation of this little production. You will need to recruit the following: a Stage Manager to supervise the production; student actors to “voice” or “work” the puppets and serve as extras behind the scenes; a narrator to propel the action forward; Home Economics Teachers and students to make the puppets; Art Teachers, students’ fathers who are handymen, and/or any Shop Teachers from nearby middle/high schools to help build the stage; and someone to videotape the performance so the student actors and crew can view it later and so it can be played on the school’s close circuit television system at a later date. It would be wise to schedule regular rehearsals so that students may become familiar with the story, the puppets, and the stage. You may want to consider holding a couple of performances in as many days so that more students can get a chance to see the production. After the first performance, consider switching the cast so that those students who served as extras can have their turn as actors “voicing” or “working” the puppets – and give the other students a break.
Have everyone involved read the Red Ribbon Storybook whether they have already read it before or not. Look through the storybook and decide if there are any parts that can be left out so that the production will end sooner since young children cannot sit still for very long. Have students read “character parts” from the storybook while other students “work” the puppets & serve as "stage crew".
Note: Create a folder containing every detail concerning this production in case you decide to do it again next year.
Clean Up & Storage: Store the storybooks, the puppets, and the stage for the next time. Return the video recorder and upload the video onto a CD, DVD or in a computer file for future use.
Discussion Ideas: Call a meeting with everyone who was involved in the production to see if they have any suggestions about how to do it better the next time around.
Submitted By: V. Henderson, Resource Coordinator