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Is This A Spectacular Or a Comfortable Bonding Exercise?

© Jo Murphy

Putting on a play or puppet show is a great way to bring the whole family together. There are so many attractive aspects to what can be a quick easy project that they are hard to capture. Putting on a play can be so much fun! The friendly playful type activity can foster worthwhile bonding experiences and at the same time be educational. At the same time these types of activities can be a vehicle to foster conflict resolution, problem solving skills, goal setting, leadership and time management approaches. Whew! All that?

Let's Explore!

If you aim to get the whole family involved it is best to involve everyone in the choice of the story from the outset. Grandma can't get involved you say? Who would know more about life and be able to spin more yarns than Grandma? Dad's too busy you might chime in. Well may be? But have you asked him? Sometimes dad needs a way of getting to know the family again after such a hard week at work and he might just love to unwind with kids and mum for a change.

The way to approach finding out who would like to get involved is to send the kids on a scout. Ask them to be very sure to ask all family members so that none get left out. Give them a script for an interview - if needs be. They can say to all family members and likely friends.

"If you were putting on a puppet play for the holidays what kind of story would you choose or create?"

This leaves it open for extraordinary creativity and originality and yet gives space for others to just choose something easy they know. Tell them to say

"Do you know a story that might make a good play?"

You might get

• a play they know.
• a favourite story
• an event - something happening in daily life that might make a good story to be acted out. Some might be about the past but others could be about situations happening now.

After you have come up with a sketchy storyline think in terms of

• who
• where
• and how.

Space influences the story to be acted out and how we act it out much more than we may at first realise. So do put a lot of thought into where your play or puppet show will be staged. You will need to decide on availability of space and when thinking about space think in terms of back drop.

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