Our project “We design and perform a puppet theater” as an exploration of a form of performing arts
There are many reasons to establish puppet theater in a social institution. For example, it promotes social interaction and language development. It also offers space for feelings and changes of perspective, you can think yourself into different roles and try them out. While playing, you can immerse yourself in a magical, imaginative world, you can also playfully address everyday topics (e.g. difficult family situations) and it invites you to think. Puppet play opens up new learning spaces and is fun.
To ensure that our students are well prepared for practical work during their training as social assistants, we give them the opportunity to deal intensively with the topic of puppet theater during their training. Because if the students have never tested this themselves, the hurdle to using it independently in the institution later on is very high. That’s why we deal intensively with the design and performance of a puppet theater. Many questions arise at the beginning. What types of puppets are there? Which implementation options are possible for us? What is the best way to hold and move the hand puppet/figure? Which story do we want to play? The last question was addressed by the pupils in ethics and German lessons. In ethics, HBFS21a dealt with the topic of sustainability and the 17 Sustainable Global Goals.
In German lessons, the pupils wrote short stories on this topic in small groups. The pupils bring these short stories to life in learning area 5 “Enabling artistic and creative educational processes”. Here, the pupils learn about various creative techniques and their imagination and creativity are called upon, as they mainly use recycled materials and leftover materials that are supposedly no longer usable, as well as natural materials, as starting materials for the production of the puppet theater, for example.
Here they learn how to create something with simple materials, how to implement various artistic design options and also how to express themselves individually. In addition to designing the characters, the scenery and various stage sets and props, they also try out musical settings for the plays. Non-musical content is a useful basis for creating sounds and musical sequences. Playing with sounds is the most original and elementary level of musical play. Sounds can be created with numerous materials, such as natural materials, everyday materials, but also with waste products, without the need for any previous musical knowledge. Experimentation and the targeted use of sounds in the musicalization of stories promotes the development of auditory perception and the creative use of “instruments” of all kinds. In addition to the subject teachers, Martina Hering, a freelance artist with a focus on puppet theater, also accompanies the cross-curricular project at times.