CHENNAI: Thinking of something fun for your children to do this weekend? The Backyard in Adyar is organising a creative puppetry workshop in collaboration with Theatre Akku for children aged 6-13 years on August 18.
The workshop is being facilitated by Sanoj Mamo, an actor and puppeteer from Kerala, who trains children across the country to make puppets using recyclable waste. He has wowed many an audience with plastic bottles, cans, and intends to boost every child’s imagination and creativity through these workshops.
“The primary motive of the workshop is to stimulate creative learning in children,” says Sanoj. “This activity will help them engage with problem-solving, critical and creative activities to learn and nurture their skills. By making them use waste to create the puppets, they learn how to recycle too. Being creative is the central aspect of my workshop. As kids can explore a lot of things from a workshop, I did not feel a particular theme is necessary.”
Sanoj has been working with children for the past 10 years. However, it was after the flood in 2018 in Kerala, that he stumbled upon creative puppetry. While visiting relief camps, the tremendous amount of waste generated haunted him and it was then that he realised he could make puppets using waste.
“Making puppets requires some creative skills. But almost anyone can simply make puppets of different shapes and forms. All you need is the interest to do it. Making puppets lets children think out of the box and also develops their cognitive skills,” he says. He also adds that creative puppetry is not something that could be taught but rather is an ‘art of self-learning’ where one has to pave the way to be creative. He says he only provides a conducive environment to enrich the child’s abilities.
(It will be held from 10.30 am to 1.30 pm. Materials, refreshments and a certificate will be provided to participants. Entry fee is Rs 1,000. Tickets can be booked on www.townscript.com. For details, call 9600038820.)