’Tis the day after Christmas, and all through the store
puppeteers can find bargains on goodies galore.
On foot or in car or on sleigh, giddyup it
to get props and costumes for you and your puppet!
Clyde and I are a day late (or 365 days early) with our Christmas greeting, but we’re right on time with a tip for your personal puppet ministry.
The days following Christmas and other seasonal holidays offer a terrific opportunity to pick up nifty props and costume items for your puppet pal, without busting your budget. Clearance shelves in discount department stores are stacked with holiday-themed hats, shirts, bibs, neckties, decorations, and who knows what else, at bargain prices. Don’t forget to scout those bins for puppet accessories when you raid the stores for clearance candy and return the wrong-size jammies from Grandma.
Look especially for items you and your puppet pal can work into a premise for a ministry message. In the Halloween clearance sale, I found a headpiece with bunny ears and a cute basket to dress my cow pal, Moochacha, as the Easter bunny. We could develop several lessons from that setup. (Edit: Check out “Moochacha as the Easter Bunny.”)
For another example, Moochacha wearing a glitzy unicorn horn could prompt a conversation about the precious, unique identity each of us is created with, or about envy.
Jeff and I had a lot of fun with the “Ho! Ho! Ho!” hat in the Merry Christmas photo above. But it wasn’t just comical. It also launched a serious discussion about Christmas generosity and cherishing God’s gift of family in “Clyde Teaches Jeff a Christmas Lesson,” one of the fourteen sample scripts in Puppet Ministry Pizzazz. In that skit, the “Ho! Ho! Ho!” hat served as a callback to add humor, emphasize the lesson, and unify the skit. (Using callbacks is explained in the chapter about writing your own scripts.)
’Nuff said. Giddyup and go see what treasures are waiting for you and your puppet pal! Leave a comment to let us know what you found.
Happy foraging!
Linda
P.S. If you missed previous posts in the Personal Puppet Ministry series, catch up here:
Puppet Grace
Picking a Puppet Pal
Picking a Puppet Pal, Part 2
Puppet Pal ~ Personality Plus
The Puppet Leaves the Pulpit
Puppeteer & Pal Meet the Kids
For more info and suggestions, check out this page of puppet ministry resources and my brand new how-to book, Puppet Ministry Pizzazz: Make Your Message Pop with a Puppet Pal.
