Explore Puppetry Series

Center for Puppetry Arts

Center for Puppetry Arts
1404 Spring St NW
Atlanta, GA
puppet.org/programs/education/education-programming/
404-873-3391

The Explore Puppetry Series offers courses for adults ages 18+ who want to learn more about puppetry. Different classes are offered throughout the year.

Puppet Technology Video Course

Puppets in Prague

Online
puppetsinprague.eu/video-courses?

Join our NEW online course, which combines recorded videos with bi-weekly consultations. We will draw from the instructions in our recently-published book Puppet Technology. Whether you are an experienced carver or just starting out, the course is designed to teach you the fundamental techniques that are essential. You will learn the craft as well as the aesthetics and gain the confidence and skills to become a master.

October 1, 2024 - April 27, 2025
See website for details

$725.17

Professional Training Internship

WonderSpark Puppets

Photo by: WonderSpark Puppets

The Jim Henson Carriage House, NYC
225 E 67th St
New York, NY
wondersparkpuppets.com/puppet-workshops-adults

Are you interested in a hands-on deep dive into the world of puppetry? WonderSpark Puppets offers a customizable internship program that can enhance your puppetry skills. Our program has been the first professional training many newcomers received on their journey to become skilled working puppeteers. The program runs 2-3 months and classes meet once per week, with homework on the side. Interns engage through structured learning with performance and building. Interns are provided with the support of a skilled mentor to assist and enhance critical hands-on learning. We offer a university-recognized internship credit to be issued at the completion of the program and comply with New York State laws regarding internships - you will not be doing unpaid labor. The program runs seasonally and seats are limited.

January 1 - December 31, 2025
Ongoing, seasonal

Free

Little Shadow's Puppetry Community

Little Shadow Productions

Online
Online
N/A
https://www.littleshadowproductions.com/community

Welcome to Little Shadow’s Puppetry Community—a vibrant space designed for professional puppeteers and dedicated enthusiasts who share a passion for creating extraordinary work. (Or at least are learning to. We love beginners too!)
Here, we focus on nurturing professional artistic voices and providing the tools, vocabulary, and support for our community members to develop their own projects or collaborate with others. Whether you're refining your skills, building new work, or looking to connect with like-minded creators & creatives, this community is your hub for inspiration, growth, and connection.
While we value and celebrate creativity in all its forms, this space is specifically tailored for those committed to advancing their craft in puppetry and storytelling. Together, let’s elevate the art form and build a dynamic, supportive community.

February 14 - December 31, 2025
All day long, every day.

$15

One-Day Puppet Making Workshop

Puppetry Plus - Los Angeles

Photo by: Roberto Ferreira

Puppetry Plus West Hollywood Campus
8581 Santa Monica Blvd., #476
West Hollywood, CA
puppetryplus.com/product-page/los-angeles-one-day-puppet-making-workshop-02

Spend a day at Puppetry Plus making your own puppet. In this 7-hour class, you will cut, glue, and sew your own version of our monster pattern. Our simple and easy-to-follow design allows for nearly unlimited customization, so the character you create is really up to you and your glue gun.

At the end of class, bring your puppet to life by performing on-camera. (Warning: once you take this class, you may catch the puppetry bug. When you start registering for all of our other courses, don't say we didn't warn you.)

February 23, 2025
10 AM to 5 PM with a one-hour break for lunch.

250

One-Day Puppet Making Workshop

Puppetry Plus - Los Angeles

Photo by: Roberto Ferreira

Puppetry Plus - West Hollywood Campus
8581 Santa Monica Blvd #476
West Hollywood, CA
puppetryplus.com/product-page/los-angeles-one-day-puppet-making-workshop-02

Spend a day at Puppetry Plus making your own puppet. In this 7-hour class, you will cut, glue, and sew your own version of our monster pattern. Our simple and easy to follow design allows for nearly unlimited customization, so the character you create is really up to you and your glue gun.

At the end of class, bring your puppet to life by performing on-camera. (Warning: once you take this class, you may catch the puppetry bug. When you start registering for all of our other courses, don't say we didn't warn you.)

February 23, 2025
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (with a one-hour lunch break)

250

150 Hand Puppet Techniques (Level 1) with Chad Williams

2025 Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival

Online
chicagopuppetfest.org/spring-2025-workshops/?dm_i=42VT,1P3P3,3ICW33,6L0XV,1

150 Hand Puppet Techniques (Level 1) is great for beginners or puppetry pros! Participants will create their own hand puppets and learn the best techniques and secrets from a hand puppetry expert. Each week we will build, play, learn, and perform! Puppeteer Chad Williams incorporates moves from Chinese Bu Dai Xi, European glove puppetry, and other traditions into his modern style.

March 3 - April 7, 2025
Mondays at 6pm

$250

Shadow Puppetry I with Chinese Theatre Works

2025 Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival

Online
https://chicagopuppetfest.org/spring-2025-workshops/?dm_i=42VT,1P3P3,3ICW33,6L0XV,1

Shadow Puppetry 1 (Level 1) is an introduction to the form for the beginning puppeteer. Students will create a desktop shadow theater, build and create basic shadow figures and environments and devise their own short pieces with music or text. An overview of world shadow puppetry traditions is included as well as an introduction to light sources and fabrication. The course makes use of basic materials including home recyclables.

March 3 - 9, 2025
Mon, Tues, Thurs, Sat, and Sun: 7 – 9pm CDT

$250

Literature of World Puppetry (Level 1) with Dr. Paulette Richards

2025 Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival

Online
chicagopuppetfest.org/spring-2025-workshops/?dm_i=42VT,1P3P3,3ICW33,6L0XV,1

Why do puppets excel at telling the world’s most beloved stories? Puppets can fly. Puppets can swim. They can be enormous or tiny. They can bring animal, mineral, or vegetable as well as human characters to life. This introduction to puppet dramaturgy will explore the enduring magic of staging the world’s literary masterpieces with puppets. Provided texts include The Ramayana, Punch and Judy, The Love Suicides at Amijima, Anansi stories, and more. Chicago Puppet Fest Symposium curator and author of Object Performance in the Black Atlantic, Dr. Paulette Richards, teaches this seminar.

March 4 - April 22, 2025
Tuesdays at 6:30pm CDT

$250

Toy Theater I with Blair Thomas

2025 Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival

Online
https://chicagopuppetfest.org/spring-2025-workshops/?dm_i=42VT,1P3P3,3ICW33,6L0XV,1

A Miniature Universe: Intro to Toy Theater (Level 1) introduces the technique of conceiving, designing, building and performing a Toy Theater show using found text or original text. Fabrication and Performance experience helpful but not necessary. Participants will complete a short Toy Theater show.

March 10 - 16, 2025
Mon - Weds 6pm CDT
Sat & Sun 1pm CDT

$250

Group Coaching for Puppet Artists

Little Shadow Productions

Online
Online
N/A
https://www.littleshadowproductions.com/group-coaching-puppet-artists

Join Group Coaching for Puppet Artists and...
Say goodbye to creative isolation: Build meaningful connections with a supportive community of puppet artists who share your journey.
Overcome self-doubt: Cultivate a confident, growth-oriented mindset that empowers your artistic decisions.
Leave confusion behind: Discover clear steps and personalized lessons to help you move forward with purpose.
Take control of your time: With flexible access to session recordings and resources, you’ll stay on track no matter how busy life gets.
Find support for your challenges: Get expert guidance and tailored advice to help you navigate creative and professional roadblocks.
Simplify your learning: Focus on curated lessons and discussions that make mastering your craft approachable and rewarding.
Step into confidence: Gain the tools, insights, and encouragement to embrace new opportunities and creative challenges with excitement.

March 11 - May 13, 2025
8 pm EST for 1 hour.

$450

Shadow Puppetry II: Mechanisms with Linda Wingerter

2025 Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival

Online
chicagopuppetfest.org/spring-2025-workshops/?dm_i=42VT,1P3P3,3ICW33,6L0XV,1

Shadow Puppetry 2 (Level 2) focuses on the introduction of different mechanism for shadow puppets beyond the basic jointed puppet. The realization of ideas in shadow puppet form stem from concepts and design.

March 12 - 26, 2025
Wednesday 3/12: 7 – 9pm CDT
Thursday 3/13: 7 – 9pm CDT
Wednesday 3/19: 7 – 9pm CDT
Thursday 3/20: 7 – 9pm CDT
Wednesday 3/26: 7 – 9pm CDT

$250

Toy Theater II with Blair Thomas

2025 Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival

Online
chicagopuppetfest.org/spring-2025-workshops/?dm_i=42VT,1P3P3,3ICW33,6L0XV,1

Toy Theater II (Level 2) will be an opportunity for participants to further develop their shows. We will be exploring different ways of articulating and mounting puppets and of enhancing the illusion of depth through stage design and lighting. We will also look at the dramaturgy of the miniature spectacle and isolate the compositional elements of this highly visual theater form as participants prepare for an informal—yet always exciting—showing on the last day.

March 18 - 29, 2025
Tuesday 3/18: 6 – 8pm CDT
Wednesday 3/19: 6 – 8pm CDT
Tuesday 3/25: 6 – 8pm CDT
Wednesday 3/26: 6 – 8pm CDT
Saturday 3/29: 1 -3pm CDT

$250

Ventriloquism and Character Creation

Susan Linn

Puppet Showplace Theater
32 Station St
Brookline, MA
puppetshowplace.org/calendar/2025/03/18/-ventriloquism-and-character-creation-class-with-susan-linn

Bring your puppets to life with ventriloquism! Ventriloquist, children’s entertainer, psychologist, and activist Susan Linn has been seen everywhere from the set of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood to the front page of The New York Times. Now, you can learn ventriloquism directly from her and her dynamic, emotive puppet friends. During this six-week class, students will focus on developing the character and voice for one puppet, while practicing the essential skills of ventriloquism. This class is great for puppeteers of all skill levels, and anyone looking to explore ventriloquism and character building. Recommended for adults and teens ages 18+

March 18 - April 22, 2025
Tuesdays, 6:30pm - 8:30pm

$250

Improv and Theatrical Clown

Stoph Scheer of Doppelskope

Puppet Showplace Theater
32 Station St
Brookline, MA
puppetshowplace.org/calendar/2025/03/19/improv-and-theatrical-clown-workshop-with-stoph-scheer

The ability to react spontaneously and truthfully is not only an essential life skill, but a highly valuable performance technique! In this workshop, we will establish a safe space in which we can re-learn how to be playful, follow impulses, be honest onstage, and find connections between ourselves, our scene partners, and the audience. The workshop will be structured around a series of exercises, games, and scene structures, based on Stoph Scheer's training and professional experience as an improv comedian, interactive theatre-maker, and theatrical clown. Performance experience is encouraged, but anyone with an open heart and an interest in playfulness is welcome to sign up! Recommended for adults 18+

March 19, 2025
6pm - 9pm

$70

Bringing Puppets to Life

Shoshana Bass of Sandglass Theater

Puppet Showplace Theater
32 Station St
Brookline, MA
puppetshowplace.org/calendar/2025/03/20/bringing-puppets-to-life-workshop-with-sandglass-theater

Interested in what brings a puppet to life? This workshop will cover the basic mechanics of operating one-person and three-person-style puppets, and will provide insights into the art form and its application in making theatrical choices. Participants will receive an introduction to Sandglass Theater’s approach to puppetry training and will engage in a fun, hands-on exploration with exercise puppets designed for training puppeteers. This workshop is appropriate for all levels and does not require any previous experience in puppetry or performance. Participants are encouraged to wear comfortable clothes that are easy to move in. Recommended for adults 18+

March 20, 2025
6pm - 9pm

$70

Beginning Professional Puppet Building Workshop

Puppetry Plus - Los Angeles

Photo by: Roberto Ferreira

Puppetry Plus West Hollywood Campus
8581 Santa Monica Blvd # 476
West Hollywood ood, CA
puppetryplus.com/product-page/la-beginning-professional-puppet-building-weho

Join us for a 3-day hands-on workshop that introduces several ways of creating a professional foam rubber puppet. You will get a comprehensive overview of "Muppet-style" puppet building covering different kinds of materials and techniques, including both rod-arm and live-hand designs. You will go step-by-step, tracing, cutting, gluing, and sewing (both by hand and using a sewing machine), and on the final day, have a new furry friend to take home.

March 22 - 25, 2025
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (includes a 1-hour lunch break)

450

Puppet Prototypes: How to "Sketch" Your Puppet Ideas With Paper, Tape, and String

Amanda Gibson

Puppet Showplace Theater
32 Station St
Brookline, MA
puppetshowplace.org/calendar/2025/04/03/puppet-prototypes-class-with-amanda-gibson

Want to build your own rod or tabletop puppets, but don’t know where to start? Are you unsure about what size your final puppet needs to be? Wondering where the mechanism should be located or how the handle should be angled? Are you attempting a new technique, but are worried about using up all your fancy materials in the testing phase? These answers — and more! — can be found through puppet prototyping! Think of it as the “sketching” phase of puppet building, a way to test out your ideas before you have to commit to them. Puppet builder Amanda Gibson — who most recently designed puppets for Wheelock Family Theatre’s Flora & Ulysses — will guide students through the process of designing a puppet, from starting point all the way to creating a fully articulated, actual-size test puppet. Using easily found materials, such as paper, cardboard, masking tape, and yarn, students will leave this class prepared to continue testing their future puppet ideas at home — and will take home a finished prototype of a rod or tabletop puppet! This class is great for anyone who has ideas for a puppet, but is unsure how to execute it! Recommended for adults 18+

April 3 - 24, 2025
6pm - 9pm

$200

Crankies I with Myra Su

2025 Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival

Online
chicagopuppetfest.org/spring-2025-workshops/?dm_i=42VT,1P3P3,3ICW33,6L0XV,1

Crankie 1 (Level 1) serves as an introduction to the crankie from a performative approach. Participants will learn basic construction tips and tricks as well as a cinematic framework to help storyboard and choreograph a crankie piece. We will also touch upon other performative elements that work well with crankies, like shadow puppets and acting in silhouette. The workshop culminates in a sharing of work by the participants.

May 5 - 11, 2025
Mon, Tues, Thurs, Sat, and Sun: 7 – 9pm CDT

$250

MASS MoCA Wood Carving & Puppet Design Residency Workshop

David Lane / New England Puppet Arts

Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art
1320 MASS MoCA Way
North Adams, MA
https://www.assetsforartists.org/workshops-in-residence

The wooden puppet lab returns for another edition in residence at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art where we’ll dig deep into traditional European style carving techniques and create beautiful, inspired wooden puppets together. Topics include: character design, carving technique, controls, joints, painting, and simple costume patterning.
Space is limited so sign up early to ensure a spot!

June 12 - 16, 2025
Formal instruction and demonstrations begin each day at 9 am and run until dinner. The evenings will include open studio and specialized programming such as a show-and-tell and puppet-film night. Field trips to the Clark Art Museum, forest hikes, and impromptu picnics can be organized as the spirit moves.

Tuition: $950 (includes materials & accomodations)

2025 New England Puppet Intensive

New England Puppet Arts / Canadian Academy of Mask and Puppetry

The Old Trout Puppet Workshop
3640 15a St SE
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
https://newenglandpuppet.org

NEPI is on the road this year in Calgary, Alberta — taking up residence at the Old Trout Puppet Workshop for eleven days of performance training, design, ensemble devising, community building and exchange. ?The program culminates in a public performance at the C.A.M.P. Cabaret. Space is limited — sign up early to ensure your spot!

August 4 - 16, 2025
Program hours are 9am to 9pm, ?most ?days.

Tuition: $1550 ?CND (Includes ?instruction, ?materials, ?family ?style ?lunch ?& ?dinner.)

National Puppetry Conference

Eugene O'Neill Theater Center

Photo by: Richard Termine / Eugene O'Neill Theater Center

Eugene O'Neill Theater Center
305 Great Neck Road
Waterford, CT
www.theoneill.org/pup
860-443-5378

The National Puppetry Conference provides a meeting and creating ground for master artisans to pass their craft and ingenuity to new artists in the field of puppetry. Participants gather from across the globe to create works that defy the bounds of contemporary theater and the imagination. Applications for the 2025 National Puppetry Conference are open now through February 6th.

Puppets in Prague - Online & In-Person Courses

New Workshops!

Puppets in Prague
puppetsinprague.eu

Choose from our wide range of top-quality long-term classes. With us you can turn your dreams into a reality, plus become a part of the flourishing Puppets in Prague community.
Marionette Carving In-Person - June 2024
Marionette Carving & Performance In-Person - August 2024
Automata: Online Course in 7 Modules - September 15, 2024 - April 28, 2025
Puppet Technology: Wooden Marionettes - September 2024 - March 2025

Distance Learning, The Center for Puppetry Arts - ONLINE

Center for Puppetry Arts

Center for Puppetry Arts, ONLINE
puppet.org/programs/?type=digital-learning-workshop

The Center for Puppetry Arts uses the latest technology to offer nationwide Distance Learning programs for PreK-adult through videoconferencing, webinars, and streamed content. Arts-infused workshops are conducted via videoconferencing and are tailored to specific classroom topics and curriculum for K-12 groups. For K-5, hands-on puppet building integrates with science, social studies, language arts and other disciplines to create a dynamic, interactive virtual classroom for a virtual field trip experience. Middle School/High School programs are discussion based. Programs complement national curriculum standards in language arts, social studies, science, math and other areas. The Center provides a comprehensive study guide and materials list for most programs. Webinars (both live and streamed) and streamed workshops and lectures are available for teachers seeking demos and professional development (also available via videoconferencing). Streamed workshops are also ideal for anyone interested in learning about puppetry.