About This Workshop
In this workshop, youth create simple rod or hand puppets using cardboard, felt, foam, yarn, and other mixed media. Participants also design and build small stages or backdrops that help bring their characters to life.
Through hands-on making, youth explore character personality, movement, and basic storytelling. The puppets and stages created in this session may be used in short skits, recordings, or animations later in the STEAM Futures Workshop Series, helping participants see how creative work can evolve across multiple formats.
What You’ll Learn & Do
Participants will:
- Design and build simple puppets using mixed materials
- Construct small stages or backdrops for performance and display
- Explore character movement, expression, and interaction
- Practice basic storytelling concepts such as setting, action, and sequence
Why this matters:
Puppet and stage building combine creative design with structural thinking, helping youth understand how form, movement, and story work together. These skills support later STEAM Futures workshops focused on motion, mechanics, media creation, and performance-based documentation.
STEAM Futures Media Moment
Youth will take part in the Mini Media Crew by recording short Puppet Clips—10–15 second videos of puppets introducing themselves or performing a simple action. With permission, these clips may be included in the final STEAM Futures Community Showcase.
Who Can Attend
- Primary audience: Youth ages 8–18
- Youth ages 8–12 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian who remains on-site for the duration of the workshop.
- Adults may participate as full creators if space is available. Youth participants are always prioritized.
Cost
Youth participants attend free of charge thanks to support from the Liberty Bank Foundation and Eversource.
Adults are welcome to attend at no cost and are invited to contribute, if they are able, to help make future programs accessible to the whole community.
Location
Project Imo – Idea Forge Creators Space
About the STEAM Futures Workshop Series
STEAM Futures is a hands-on workshop series hosted at Project Imo’s Idea Forge Creators Space. Each session blends art, design, science, technology, and engineering through accessible, project-based learning. Youth explore tools such as sewing machines, digital cutters, 3D printers, and a laser engraver while building confidence as creative makers and problem-solvers. Participants may attend individual workshops or engage throughout the full series.
Made Possible By
NEXT Workshop in the Series – Maker Motions and Simple Machines
Open Maker Space Hours – Thursday January 15th from 2:30pm to 6:30pm



