Reuse It or Lose It: How to Make Puppets

In honor of international Earth Day, which was on April 22nd, we’ll be devoting a series of posts this week to Israeli ventures and businesses that make our consumption a little greener by reinventing used materials. 

If we don’t reuse our resources we may lose them altogether, so these green heroes definitely deserve our attention and support.

Adults may understand that reusing is important because it requires less energy for production of new items, less resources, and that it reduces the amount of waste in landfills.  But how do you get the message across to young children and start their eco-education early?

With some wholesome green fun.

Anat Geiger, a puppeteer in Moshav Nir Akiva, offers just that.  The puppets in her puppet shows are all made by her out of repurposed household items, and by performing with “reused” puppets for children she teaches them a valuable lesson about saving resources and the potential for creativity.

In Anat’s own words, “the ready material is a limitation that I work with and that I start from, and it changes the way that I look at objects and materials around me completely.   In every hanger, bag, or box that I look at I search to see where their nose is, where the eyes are, what personality they have, how they walk…   It is a lot of fun and creativity, and I think that message gets across to the audience that watches the show.”

Anat’s variety of puppet shows – ranging from A. Hillel stories to “Shmendrik and the Monster” – are geared towards children aged 3-7 and are suitable for school activities, community centers, library story telling, and birthdays.

Anat also occasionally hosts reused puppet workshops for children, which are often held after her puppet shows.

Anat Geiger:: Moshav Nir Akiva, 077-3434314

See also:: Reuse It or Lose It: Read It Again, Sam, Reuse It or Lose It: Oh Baby, Reuse It or Lose It: Logging On to Online Re(use)sources

Author: Karen Chernick

Much to the disappointment of her Moroccan grandmother, Karen became a vegetarian at the age of seven because of a heartfelt respect for other forms of life. She also began her journey to understand her surroundings and her impact on the environment. She even starting an elementary school Ecology Club and an environmental newsletter in the 3rd grade. (The proceeds of the newsletter went to non-profit environmental organizations, of course.) She now studies in New York. Karen can be reached at karen (at) greenprophet (dot) com.

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