Socks, Buttons, and Googley Eyes

Visitors of all ages came in droves to learn the basics of puppetry in a Young Arts workshop called Puppet Productions. The workshop was part of a two-Saturday event at Wexner Center for the Arts celebrating the legacy of Jim Henson that included his classic and rare film and video screenings, March 17 and 24.

Between films, families visited the Performance Space to create and perform their own sock puppet. They were greeted with piles of colorful socks, buttons, googley eyes, pom poms, and ping-pong balls and about twenty yards of cut-down felt, stacked by color. Professional puppeteer Jennifer Stoessner and a team of volunteers led families through the steps of constructing their own unique character based on specific personality traits. Families then planned a story or a skit to perform and Jennifer demonstrated how to operate puppets in front of a camera, using television monitors, just as Henson film and television puppeteers do.

Kids bounced around the puppet sets acting out their stories in front of two beautifully rich and vibrant sets, so they could watch their puppets on the TVs and the large screen onto which the footage was being projected at the front of the space. It was a great project for children to learn and be able to continue to create, design, and discover while at home! — Kendra Meyer & Sara Mitchell



Click here to see all the photos from the workshop!