Tips for Christian Puppet Ministries

Puppet ministries are a great way for churches, christian organizations, and even families to teach children about the Bible and to entertain the children at the same time. Puppet shows can be extremely effective in part because they do a good job of capturing the kids' attention and they are more likely to remember the lessons that they learn through the puppet show. In the eyes of the children, puppet shows are fun, even if they are educational in nature.

If you are starting a new puppet ministry or looking to improve the effectiveness of an existing puppet ministry, here are some tips.

Get Started!
If you've been wanting to start a puppet ministry with your church or group, you may be feeling like there is so much planning, preparation and learning that you just haven't been able to really get started yet. If this is the case, make an effort to just get started anyway. Schedule your first show. It doesn't have to be perfect and the puppets don't have to be of any particular type or quality. The children will enjoy it regardless of these issues and you'll start learning more about the ministry and taking action will lead to quicker benefits with the children.

Get Young People Involved
Part of the reason puppet ministry can be so effective is because it can be a hands-on experience for the kids, and they will love it. Depending on the age of the children you may not be able to involve them in all of the shows, but find ways to get them involved and interacting with the puppets. Many puppet teams use older children from a youth group to minister to the younger kids.

Choose Scripts Wisely
Puppet ministries are excellent because of their impact on the children, but is something that you need to take seriously when choosing scripts. Remember that the scripts used will have a huge impact on the children and be sure that there is nothing in the script that you would not want the children to emulate. If you're getting free scripts online, remember that there are people out there with all different views and beliefs, so be sure to take some time and read through the script carefully to make sure that it matches up with the teachings and beliefs of your church or organization.

Choose Fun Scripts with a Message
The best puppet shows will be enjoyable to the children and will teach a valuable lesson. In some cases, the children will not even think about the fact that there is an important lesson in the script because they will be more concerned with the entertainment factor. However, children will remember the lessons and hopefully put them into practice in situations in their own lives.

If you're not sure where to find fun scripts that teach lessons to children, we have 4 free scripts available on our puppet scripts page at CCES.

Take Advantage of Available Resources
Most churches and ministries are always working with limited budgets, but fortunately there are a number of quality free resources available, especially online. Scripts and skits can easily be found by doing a Google search and you can also find other free resources such as patterns for making puppets.

Recycle
One of the great things about puppet ministry is that you can use just about anything to make a puppet, you just need a little bit of creativity. Re-using items from around the house you can easily create a number of puppets that can be used for your shows, without needing to buy expensive professional puppets (this is especially helpful when starting a new puppet ministry. After a while you may want to invest in some more professional puppets).

For example, you can use the following items to make puppets:

• Socks
• Mops and brooms
• Paper bags
• Gloves
• And much more. Use your creativity!

Adapt Scripts
When looking for scripts to use in your shows, you may find that you have a hard time finding a skit that is just right. If this is the case, don't hesitate to adapt the script to meet your needs. Some things you may want to change are the length, vocabulary (to be age-appropriate or to match the vocabulary used where you live), the number of characters, props used, names of characters (perhaps to match names that are a better fit with the ethnicity and culture of your kids).

Puppet ministries are one the bes opportunities for children's workers, so make an effort to get puppets more involved in the lives of your kids.

Photo credit: pt