With this on-and-off rain, Miss Cobbett has been thinking a lot about what kinds of things we can do inside to use our creative thinking skills. Something we’re going to be exploring a little bit more is storytelling, because that is something that everyone can do, and it gives us an opportunity to be really, really creative with our ideas!

Our Grade 2s will remember that making paper puppets was something we were doing in reading groups (Grade 1s will probably have made some, too!). Making paper puppets is a great way to re-examine our books for details about our characters (and settings!), practice re-telling, and then using our creative thinking to explore other possibilities for our stories and characters through free play or structured exploration. What will happen next? Why do you think they are going to go over there? What will they do? How are they feeling on this new part of the story, do you think? <- these are all questions you can ask to delve deeper into their critical thinking!

Paper puppets aren’t anything new! These vintage examples are so cute – and they’re from 1990!

Here are some really great tips on putting together your own collection of paper puppets (click the photo to make it bigger so you can read!):

When you’re designing your paper puppet, what details do you need?

Who are you making? What do they look like? What are they wearing: Will they need different outfits for different things? Maybe an outfit for their job, maybe an outfit for going on a walk in the rain, maybe an outfit with a bathrobe?

Think about your puppet, and what they need: How do they get around? Do they walk, or do they need a skateboard? What do they like to eat? Do they like to go on picnics, or do they always carry a water bottle?

There are so many possibilities!!

What is the setting for your stories with your puppet(s)?

Miss Cobbett tried to make a couple paper puppets using little platforms to help them stand up.

Then I tried to make a chair and a stool from the easy trace/cut/fold/glue templates on this website: https://www.artistshelpingchildren.org/kidscraftsactivitiesblog/2011/11/how-to-make-a-paper-doll-house-table-chairs/

What is Miss Cobbett missing? What details need to be added to her puppets still? What about the stool and chair? 

There are lots of ideas you can find on the internet to make settings for your paper puppets out of paper, like:

But get creative with your own materials! What exploring could a paper puppet do standing on a picture in a book? What adventure could a paper puppet go on in a Lego ship? What would your paper puppet see on a nature walk on the forest floor? 

Here is a link to some beautiful and really cool colouring pages that were put out for free for Children’s Book Week for 2020! At the bottom of the page, it lists a little bit of information about each of the illustrators. What would you draw as a colouring page design for Children’s Book Week? What is a book that you would recommend other people read? What did you like about reading it? Discuss any colouring pages you colour in with somebody – what details do you notice? What details to they notice? What is happening in the picture? What do you think will happen next? 

https://everychildareader.net/cbw/coloringpages-2020/