How Did We Get Started in Black Light Puppetry?
Throughout our ministry, we’ve focused our puppetry on using arm rod puppets and a couple of human arm puppets. I’d heard about black light puppetry, but didn’t know anything about it.
I was asked to teach a weekly puppet class at a nearby non-public school and planned to team up with a guy that had used black light puppets in the past, so that was to be part of our curriculum. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out for the guy to teach with me. I wound up doing the class myself, but still wanted to include teaching on using black lights in puppetry.
To do the teaching, I had to do some personal study. The first place I went to was Puppets from One Way Street. They are a company run by Christians that sell puppets and puppet supplies and I knew they had some black light information. (They also sell programming, gospel magic supplies, ballooning supplies, and other materials used in children’s ministry.)
In searching their site, I came across a DVD called “How to Start a Blacklight Ministry” with John Coen. It sounded like it would cover what we needed to get started, so I ordered it.
One Way Street also sells black light puppets, black hoods for performances, black or white gloves, and fluorescent paint for black light effects.
When it comes to black light puppets, there are several companies that sell them, but there isn’t a big assortment to choose from. Most companies sell the same puppets, so I just shopped around to find the best deal. We were able to purchase a full bodied boy and girl puppet and two clown fish puppets for under $200.
In the next post, I’ll talk about the DVD we purchased on how to start a black light ministry.
What is Blacklight Puppetry
On Easter Sunday this year, we introduced Black Light Puppetry to our children’s church program and it was a huge success. So much so that we now do something with black lights two to three times a month. Up until this point in our puppet experience we focused on hand puppets, but this new experience is opening doors to new and exciting opportunities.
What is Black Light Puppetry?
It’s doing puppets in the dark having only a black light for illumination and using puppets stand out or “glow” under the lights. Anything you don’t want to show is covered in black. So if you have a theater with black curtains, only the puppets will show up.
With black lights, you can make a large backdrop out of black material and have your puppeteers dress in black from head to foot and perform outside the stage. This allows you to use full body puppets where the audience can see their legs and gives you much more room to act out your play.
A big plus to using black lights is that you can make backgrounds that fluoresce that make the audience sit back and say “wow.” Background items can be made out of fluorescent poster board. If you paint one side black, you can have the black side facing the audience so it appears as though there is nothing there. Then, turn it around and it seems like it just appeared.
There are reasonably priced black light puppets available with skin and clothing that “glow” under the black light. You can also make your own using foam and painting it with fluorescent paint.
In the next post I’ll share some resources we used to learn about and get started with the black light puppetry. I wish now we had gotten into it years ago.
Where Can We Get Low Cost Promotional Products For Our Puppet Team?
Word of mouth is one of the best promotional methods for a puppet team. Having a professional looking business card to hand out is important not only for contacts but for people who wish to pray for or give to your ministry. A business card on the refrigerator can be a continual reminder of your ministry.
The last post talked about making your own cards. It’s easy and affordable and a good choice. The one drawback is they aren’t as professional looking as those done by a printer, but printed ones can cost a lot of money. It may not be as expensive as you think.
A couple of months ago, I needed some promotional post cards for an upcoming Kid’s Camp and went online to Vistaprint. On the right-hand column is a list of free products. I went through the process of designing a postcard using one of the templates and then chose to save it so I could work on it later. To do so, I had to set up a free account which was a simple process.
Shortly afterwards, I received an email promotion where I could get 100 free premium postcards for free—just pay shipping. That opened the door to a huge assortment of templates and I found one that fit great for our camp promo.
I finished designing the postcard and placed the order and received 100 postcards for under $15. The cards came in the mail in a timely manner and looked great. Last year, I did them on my color laser printer for close to the same cost and they didn’t look as nice.
The promotional also included 250 free premium business cards. I’m in the process now of designing a business card for my website. Just one thing, though. Vistaprint does send out a lot of promotional emails, but for me it’s not a problem because they gave me great service at a super price. You may want to check them out
Where can we get low cost promotional products for our puppet team?
Word of mouth is one of the best promotional methods for a puppet team. As people hear about your ministry and impact, they often think of someone who could benefit such as their pastor, children’s ministry director, youth leader, etc.
You can write down the information for them to pass on, but it is easier to give them a business card already containing the information. But many teams have little or no budget, so how can you get a good quality business card for little money? I can think of a couple. (I’ll share one in this post and the second one tomorrow.)
Develop your own.
• Most word processing programs (MS Word, Open Office, Lotus WordPro) have predesigned templates for business cards. Simply pull up the template, make any changes you want, and insert your information. Then it’s just a matter of printing and separating them.
• You can run them on plain card stock and then trim them to size. If you do, use a good printer (a color laser is ideal) and carefully cut them. Only trim one or two sheets at a time or you risk the bottom pages moving while you trim. The advantage of making your own is that you can design it exactly like you want it to look.
(A while ago, I had my son develop some clipart puppet pictures to use on my website. If you want to develop your own business card and would like a puppet clipart piece, send me an email and I’ll give you up to five .jpg puppet clips. Or if you’d like, you can download them directly off the website. I do ask though that you don’t use the one with the green shirt that’s on the front of my book.)
• You can purchase perforated card stock specially designed for business cards so you simply tear them along the perforations after printing. The one drawback is that the edges don’t come out smooth. Cards with micro-perforations are better, but more costly.
Tomorrow, I’ll talk about a low cost, professional option.
Where Can Our Puppet Team Minister Outside of Church?
For over fifteen years my wife and I had a traveling puppet team that ministered throughout New York State and several surrounding states. Most of our programs were presented at churches, but we also had a number of non-church venues. Here’s a list of some venues you may want to consider.
- Nursing homes. Many nursing homes have churches and entertainers come in on a one time or monthly basis. We’ve seen God use our puppets to communicate truths there in exciting ways.
- Camps. We have ministered with puppets at a Christian camp in upstate New York most summers for close to 30 years. In fact, we’ve ministered to at least six or seven camps with great results.
- Community centers. During the summer, a lot of community centers are busy with programs for children. Some will allow you to do Christian based programs and share the gospel while others won’t. If they don’t, you could perform programs centered on character building. It would help you reach out to the community and promote your team so maybe some of those who attend will check out your team at church.
- Backyards. Set up your theater and run a back yard Bible club. You could do it as a precursor to VBS or a follow-up. You could use it as a summer outreach where you take your program to where the children are, and not make them have to come to you.
- Fairs. Many fairs rent spaces for games, concessions, churches, etc. Rent a space, set up your theater and conduct ten minute puppet shows every hour or half-hour.
- Parades. Make your float into a puppet theater and perform songs. Include contact information on the side of your float and hand out promotional fliers if that’s allowed.
- Christian schools. We’ve done chapel sessions for a couple of Christian schools. You get to minister to children and promote your team at the same time since several different churches are usually represented in the school.
That’s seven ideas. I’m sure you could come up with more. The idea is to go to where the children are, and not always make them come to you.
There’s More in Your Puppet Scripts than Just Words
In writing about getting more out of your scripts, one more possibility came to me that I’d like to share today.
Most likely, you include more in your programs than just puppetry. In ours we use object lessons, balloon sculptures, gospel tricks, etc. Reading through your plays can often give you object lesson ideas or learning activities you can use to reinforce the teaching in the play.
• If you’re doing the Christian Vitamin play, you could bring in a bottle of vitamins and reinforce and add to the teaching in the play. What object lessons could you develop from your plays?
• In a few weeks we’re doing a play called Jesus is Always Around. Right after the play is a learning activity to help drive home the teaching. Before the children arrive, I’ll hide a piece of paper with the phrase “Jesus is Always Around” written on it. After the play, the children will have the opportunity to search for the paper.
Once it’s found, I’ll do a bit of teaching. That paper was in the room the entire time you’ve been sitting here. You didn’t see it, but it was here. No matter where you go or what you do, Jesus is with you even though you can’t see him.
That learning activity was developed by spending a little time thinking and praying about that specific play. What can you do with the plays you have?
• If your play is about the beatitudes, you could use a bee balloon sculpture to introduce or help apply the play. If you don’t know how to make one, you could use a picture of a bee with the same effect.
With just a bit of extra thought you can gain much more value from your scripts and improve the quality of your plays and programs at the same time.
There’s More in Your Puppet Scripts than Just Words
The last post talked about getting the best value out of your scripts. Here are three more ways to mine great stuff out of your scripts to improve the quality of your plays.
• Scripts will often give you suggestions for props, if you look for them. For instance, in the Vitamin play, the puppets talked about vitamins. That gives several prop ideas: a vitamin container the puppet could hold, large “vitamins” you could attach to a puppet’s hand, a large cardboard vitamin bottle to stand on the stage next to the puppets, smaller cardboard vitamin bottles with labels that the puppets could hold, etc.
In another play, a puppet pushes a button to try to start a car battery. You can have the puppet tap the theater, or you could add a prop. We took a small box and fastened it to a rod and then glued a knob on the top. When it came time to push the button, the puppet had an actual button to push which made the presentation more realistic.
• Scripts will give you hints on what the puppets should wear. One of our plays takes place in the arctic. While at a garage sale one day, we came across two winter hats that were perfect for the play and the puppets. We added some scarves, shook the puppets a bit to mimic shivering and it came across as much more realistic.
Another play had a puppet magician. For him, we used a red cape and made a wand out of a wooden dowel. We didn’t have one, but a top hat would have completed the ensemble. He came across as a magician by adding a piece of clothing and a prop.
• By carefully reading the script, you can also come up with sound effects that add more realism to the play. They could be: a ringing phone, ticking clock, distant train whistle, traffic sounds, dogs barking, etc.
There’s More in Your Puppet Scripts than Just Words
In my book, Experience Puppets, I spend time showing you how to prepare using a script in a performance. The idea is to practice it enough that you don’t have to read it while you perform. The book includes some strategies to help you accomplish that.
There’s more to a script than just reading and performing it. If that’s all you’re doing with your scripts, you’re missing out. What are some things you can do to get the most value out of the scripts you use?
Scripts contain all kinds of ideas that you can use to develop and write your own plays. While the script itself is copyrighted, ideas can’t be. Read through your scripts and see if you can come up with one or two ideas that you can develop into new scripts.
Your team could then work together to brainstorm ideas to include in the play, choose the ones you want to include, outline the play, and then write the play. The team could edit it, make suggestions, and rework it if needed. That would not only help build your team but it also supply new material at the same time.
Years ago, we did a script that talked about Christian One-a-Day vitamins. It was well written and we used it often. That play could easily be developed into a new and different play.
• Vitamins come in medicine type containers. Medicine is important to help heal you when you’re sick or injured. The Bible has principles and promises that can bring spiritual healing to people. A script “The Right Rx for What Ails You” could then be written.
• When writing the script, change the names, the setting, and the characters and you have a brand new script completely different from the original and uniquely fitted to your ministry.
Puppet Practice Possibility
Structure is important in having successful puppet team practices, but be careful you don’t go overboard. Practices are not profitable if all you do is fool around. You may have a great time, but won’t get much done. If you are too stiff and formal, you might get a lot done, but there will be little fun and excitement. The key is to find and maintain a balance.
We have developed some entire routines out of times of fooling around in practice. Here’s one of them.
One night, we were fooling around with a human arm puppet, making it look like he was doing pull-ups on the top level of the theater. It looked realistic, so we played with it some more.
After doing a few pull-ups, the puppet struggled on the last one, shaking the theater just a bit to show the strain. We also discovered we could scrunch his face a bit so it looked like he really was straining. It was fun to do, but also fun to watch. We knew we could do something with it.
That led to a routine on goal setting where Mr. Jones would set a goal of doing ten pull-ups before the night was over. He started out doing three and went to rest. He came back later and did six or seven and went to rest. He tried a third time near the end of the program and did all ten.
After the last one, he came down to the lower tier and we talked about the importance of goal setting and the satisfaction that comes after completing a goal.
We never would have had that routine if our practice time was so structured that we couldn’t fool around. Some fooling around in practice is ok. When it does happen, try to direct it a bit and see if you can develop great routines as a result.
Make the Most Out of Your Puppet Team Practices
A weekly puppet practice is important to prepare your programs, develop your skills, strengthen your arm muscles, and more. How you run those practices is also important.
Early on, with our first team, we had weekly practices, but didn’t have much structure to them. In fact, we wasted a lot of time. I didn’t realize how bad it was until one of our puppeteers told me he was going to leave the team if things didn’t change.
The lack of structure and fooling around showed him that we weren’t taking it seriously. His statement made me realize that, and changes were made.
Now, when practice time comes, I have an agenda in place. I know what we need to practice for this week and the coming weeks. The agenda helps keep us focused on what needs to be done and also helps me know how to use my time wisely.
Last week, we had an interruption that took time out of practice. We wound up with only forty-five minutes of actual practice time. Since I had the agenda made up, I knew what was vital to practice and what we could put off until next week.
Structured, organized practices are important for a team’s success. You want to be careful not to go overboard on the structure and become too stiff and formal. I still allow some time for fooling around in some practices. The key is to find a proper balance between work and having fun.
We have developed great routines arising out of times of fooling around. In the next post, I’ll share one of those routines.
What can I do with puppet scripts I’ve paid for but can’t really use?
The teams I’ve worked with over the years have been Christian teams ministering to local churches and camps, so we get our material from Christian companies. One thing I’ve learned is that just because a play was written by a believer doesn’t mean that I can automatically use it.
When I get a new play, I read it over to make sure it is biblically sound and correct. Most of them are, but occasionally some aren’t. What do you do?
If they’re pre-recorded plays, there’s not much you can do. We had one play with a minor concern. It wasn’t enough to stop us from using the play, but when it finished, I did a bit of extra teaching to clarify it.
We received one cassette with five or six plays on it and discovered that one was off enough that we couldn’t use it; so we didn’t. We made use of the other plays and crossed that one off our list. The value we received from the other plays made up for not being able to use that one.
If it is a script, it’s easier. If the problem is minor (one line or portion of a line), simply omit or re-word the line or phrase in your performance.
If a large part of the script needs to be reworked and you have a number of changes to make, you should check with copyright laws before proceeding.
While the specific work is copyrighted, an idea can’t be. Usually, when looking for scripts, it is the idea behind the script that sells you on it. If I feel a script needs significant changes, I’ll use the idea behind the script and write my own. That way, I’m not infringing on someone’s copyrighted work and I’ve got a play that is tailor-made for our team and ministry.
How Do We Develop a Puppet Team Covenant?
Membership on a puppet team takes commitment and dedication for the team to be successful. People have a lot going on in their lives and tend to stretch themselves too thin. When that happens, commitments can falter, attendance can become sporadic, and they can eventually drop off the team.
While you can’t stop that from happening, you can reduce it with a simple tool called a team covenant. A Puppet Team Covenant is simply a document where you list what the team can expect from the director and what the director expects from the team. It includes a sentence or two stating that you are in agreement with the covenant and will abide by it as long as you’re a member and finishes with a place to sign and date.
This doesn’t have to cover pages of information; the shorter the better. The last one I made covered a half sheet of paper.
Some commitments you might consider using for the team director are:
• The team will be a high priority in their life.
• They will properly prepare for each practice so they don’t waste the team’s time.
• They will seek to be as fair as possible when assigning parts for each play.
• Provide training and helps for each team member.
• To work with the team to develop the best ministry possible.
• To take into account puppeteer’s needs and schedules when planning monthly shows and activities.
Some commitments you might consider for the puppet team members:
• To attend and be on time for each practice and performance.
• They will help set up and take down equipment for each practice and performance.
• They will come to practices ready and willing to work.
• Give advanced notice if they can’t make a practice or performance.
• Understand that during performance opportunities, they represent the team, organization, and God and that their behavior will reflect that.
The covenant helps provide accountability for both directors and team members and shows that you are serious about your team. That goes a long way in building stability with your team.
How Do I Publish a Monthly Puppet Team Newsletter?
The past two posts have talked about the importance of a monthly newsletter. Having one is great, but how do I produce it? Here is one way I’ve found to be effective.
Step 1. Create a template. Many word processing documents allow you to set up a basic document and then save it as a template. Once done, you don’t have to worry about it again unless you want to tweak it. When you open that template, it creates a new document. Any changes you make do not affect the template.
Step 2. Determine your content.
• Make a list of all the topics or information to include in the letter.
• Prioritize the list.
• Turn each item on your list into a question.
• Write a headline for each item.
Step 3. Write the letter
• Determine how much space you want that topic to cover.
• Type your headline at the top of the first column.
• Answer the question or questions you posed for that topic. Write more than the amount of space you want to use.
• Continue with the other topics in the same manner. Don’t worry about fitting it all in at this point. You want to get all the content on first.
Step 4. Edit the letter.
• Review and edit each section, trimming it down to the allotted space.
• Look for unnecessary words or phrases to trim. There might be entire sentences to delete that won’t affect the content of the topic.
Step 5. Proofread the letter. Run it through the grammar and spell checker with your word processing program, but also have someone proof read it to catch things that are missed.
Step 6. Print and pass out your letter. You can mail it, email it, post it, hand it out, etc.
What Should I Include in a Monthly Puppet Team Newsletter?
When we had a traveling team, we put out a monthly newsletter to 100 families and individuals. It took some work, but was well worth it. The last post talked about why publish a newsletter. This one talks about what to include in it.
1. Highlights from the past month. Share some of the exciting things that took place: a new skit that impacted the children, a record attendance at one of your meetings, commitments children made after your presentation, etc. Don’t just include positive highlights. Include some of your struggles in general terms.
2. A specific story about the impact your team made during the month. People love stories, especially uplifting ones. I get a newsletter from a children’s worker in Syracuse that is full of stories. It’s usually at least three pages long, but I read it from cover to cover. There’s something about a real life story that grabs your attention.
3. Answers to prayer from the last newsletter. If you include a prayer section in your letter, don’t forget to share answers. If I know my prayers are accomplishing something, I’m going to keep praying. If I pray for a ministry for several months and have no clue how effective those prayers are, I’m probably going to stop.
4. Prayer Requests for the coming month. We consider our prayer supporters a vital part of our team. This is a specific way they can be a part of our puppet ministry even if they never see a single puppet show. Our traveling team in the past was a huge success mostly, I believe, to the prayers of the people receiving our newsletter. As you give the requests, make them specific. In fact in our newsletter, we included a bookmark with the requests, so people could put it in their Bible as a consistent reminder.
5. A look ahead-upcoming meetings or events. List the scheduled meetings for the next month or so.
6. A thank you to the readers for their support. In most of our newsletters we thanked them for being an important part of our team.
7. Contact information. Include an email address or some other way for people to contact you. Some may send an encouraging card, a financial gift to your ministry, or want information on how to book your team.
Should I Consider a Monthly Newsletter for My Puppet Team?
If you have a puppet ministry within your local church or have a traveling team, it is a great idea to publish a monthly newsletter. Here are 5 reasons to consider it.
- Monthly newsletters keep your team/ministry partners informed. For church teams, it allows those who pray for you to see the results of their prayers and encourages them to continue praying. They are a reminder that you are an active team and as people see what’s being accomplished it can help increase their support.
- They are a great promotional tool. If you use puppets in a Children’s Church setting, it is easy for the adults in the main service to forget about your team. A monthly newsletter is great reminder for them, especially those who have children in your ministry. Also, as people read your newsletter, they may be reminded of a church or organization looking for a puppet team. It’s possible to get new bookings off of consistent newsletters.
- They cause you to review your ministry and team once a month. To put together a newsletter, you need to look at what’s happened over the past month to find some highlights to include. Working on a newsletter is a great time to reflect on what your team is accomplishing, what is working well, and what can work better.
- They help provide a historical record of what your team does. When you have a great program at a particular location, you tend to think that you’ll remember it for a long time. Sometimes that happens, but most of the time it doesn’t. I’ve forgotten most of the programs we’ve done in churches across New York and other states, but I have several year’s worth of newsletters that I can review. During times of discouragement, it is a great help to review past meetings as a reminder that you really are making a difference.
- They cause you to look ahead to the coming months. It’s easy to get focused on just the next meeting, especially if you minister weekly. Meetings set a month or two in advance are forgotten until the last minute and then you have to scramble to prepare for them. A consistent newsletter keeps you looking ahead and helps you better prepare for upcoming meetings.