What is a puppet mechanism? A puppet mechanism is more than just a device that you put inside your puppet to create movement, mechanisms bring a whole new life to your puppet by typically using a spring, cable, pulling a string, or using a wooden rod.  Students in this class will build a simple mechanism and then construct a foam puppet around the device that they create.  Then they will turn that creation into a puppet by building its character and thus breathing life into it.

The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut will once again offer fall community puppet-building workshops with acclaimed Boston puppeteer Sara Peattie, to design and build life-size and over-life-size puppets for the Celebrate Mansfield Parade in downtown Storrs, Connecticut.   Workshop participants will be invited to parade with their puppets as part of the Celebrate Mansfield Parade on Sunday, September 20 at noon (Line-up begins at 11:00 AM at Farrell Field near the Post Office). The Parade is a part of the 12th Annual Celebrate Mansfield Festival.  To participate in these free community puppet-building workshops with Sara Peattie, register by contacting the Ballard Institute at bimp@uconn.edu or 860 486 8580.