A Silhouette of Science: First Graders Shine in Puppetry Project

In first grade, one of our science units is “Light and Sound.” The students are given the scenario of helping a puppet show create a set using only shadows, so it is easy to transport and set up. After learning about light and several hands-on experiments, the culminating project was a visit from the Thistle Theatre for a shadow puppet show of the folk tale “The Bremen Town Musicians.”

The puppeteer performed the show for all of the first grade classes and the following day came back and taught a workshop on how to create the puppets and sets. After the puppet show was over, he showed the students how everything worked and answered their questions. Then in the workshop, they got to create puppets and scenery on their own and try it all out.

It really brought our science unit to life for the all the first graders!