Adam Prudhomme
Editor
With Lennox and Addington County Museum and Archives’ popular in-person kids programs currently on hold, they’re moving the fun to online.
Partnering with Mike Harding of Applefun Puppetry, the museum has launched a free month long virtual program called Make A Puppet Show From The Comfort Of Your Home.
After registering online at www.lennox-addington.on.ca/mus…/make-a-puppet-show, participants will be emailed a link to a new video every Friday at 1:30 p.m. throughout January.
The links will feature Harding leading a series of how-to videos, showing how household items can be used to create a puppet show. The first week will discuss how to develop a story, week two covers how to make puppet characters, week three goes over how to make a stage for the show and the final week will have participants submit a short one to two minute video of their creation.
“He always puts on an amazing show and he’s so good with the kids and he’s very relatable so I knew he’d be a good person to reach out to and see if he’d do a workshop for us,” Amber Meyer, program coordinator for Lennox and Addington County Museum and Archives, said of Harding. “We’ve been kind of back and forth trying to figure out how to do this workshop. The interactive Zoom calls are so hard for little kids. We decided to go with an instructional video. Even though it says it’s going out at 1:30 p.m. on Fridays, it’s a link so people can watch it anytime after that.”
While the shows are geared towards kids, there’s no age limit. Meyer notes a handful of teachers and early childhood educators have already registered for the program.
The links will be available throughout January.
“The last week we’re going to ask people to send in a recording of their puppet show and (Harding is) going to view it with his puppets. He’s going to have puppets watch the show with reactions,” said Meyer.
The final video will also include a show from Applefun Puppetry. Harding has previously performed at Napanee’s Macpherson House and is always a hit with families.
Meyer says virtual craft programs will be a monthly occurrence going forward until the museum is able to welcome visitors back into their building. Their holiday crafts they hosted last month were well received with nearly 220 craft kits picked up from the museum.