Fairy tales & Puppetry: Good Things Come In Threes

Based on the original script & lyrics by Tony Appleby as provided in December 2014

Available Terms 1 & 2

 

Key Themes: Fairy tales, Puppetry

puppetry

Curriculum Areas: English Literature, Critical & Creative Thinking; Arts

Key Learning Areas: Creative Writing, Drama, Music, Dance.

Suitable for: Prep to Grade 3.

Teacher resource pack included

Session length:  50 minutes

 

Show Synopsis:

Students will watch and learn as our two high energy performers take them on a guided tour through some of the world’s most famous fairy tales, each told through the lens of a different style of puppetry.

Three of our favourite fairy tales are performed using three different styles of puppetry.  We use Marionettes, Shadow Puppetry and Hand Puppetry to tell the fairy tale stories of The Three Billy Goats Gruff, Goldilocks & The Three Bears and The Three Little Pigs.

But here’s the twist!  By spinning a “triangle of trickery” the students choose which story will be told and by picking out of a hat they choose the style of puppetry we will perform.  At least, that’s what they think!

After each story, the performers will spend time informing the students about how our puppets are designed and built and give them a chance to show off what they’ve learnt.

 

Testimonials:

“Visually engaging for students, excellent puppets, catchy songs. I enjoyed the costumes, music and puppets, an entertaining performance.” – Glenroy West Primary School, VIC

“Sensational!” – Overnewton Anglican Community College Junior School, VIC

“The best thing I’ve seen in a long time!…The puppets were amazing, really brilliant!… Brilliant voices!” – Scotch College, Hawthorn, VIC

“Absolutely Brilliant! Please, please come again. Great Inspiration for follow up activities.” – East Launceston Primary School, TAS

 

About the show:

Good Things Come In Threes supports delivery of the English curriculum by providing an opportunity to develop students’ listening and viewing skills as well as supporting the Creating Literature element of the curriculum by providing examples of how we can use song, sound, rhythm and dialogue in storytelling.

The show is designed to tell the three fairy tales in a straightforward and linear fashion, ensuring students from Foundation to Grade 3 are all able to comprehend it.

Throughout the show, our performers interact directly with the students; singing, dancing, and teaching them all the ways they can do this at home by breaking the elements down to the simplest steps so that students aren’t overwhelmed.

The performance also gives students an accessible way to learn about various types of puppetry, all whilst having fun with our two upbeat performers.

All of our puppets are designed with a focus on using recycled materials that are readily available, we instill in students the yearning to build their own puppets to play with at school and at home.  The free teacher resource pack included with the show provides follow up activities to enable students to create their own puppets and scenes back in the classroom.

We use a professionally recorded voice over narrator to drive the story forward and play into the style of “Story time” – a concept we are sure the students are very familiar with.  This, and the use of puppets, heightens the experience of the puppet shows.

Starting with Goldilocks and the Three Bears, shadow puppets are used to show the students that their homemade puppets don’t need to be highly detailed to work!

Moving onto The Three Little Pigs, using atypical hand puppets allows us to get up close and personal with the students, whilst also presenting them with something new that they may not have seen before.

Finally, the Three Billy Goats Gruff is presented in the style of Marionettes, with a hand built staging area set up in front of the students.  The performers operate the puppets in full view of the students, breaking down the “fourth wall” and prompting discussion about the process of puppeteering.

Between each puppet show the performers “lift the curtain” on how the different characters were created and how to operate the puppets.   Then some students are given the opportunity to have a go at operating them.

 

Pricing:

$6.95 (exc. GST) per student.

Please note there is a minimum of $799.25 (exc. GST) for up to 115 students