Storytelling Recycling Resources

 

Recycled Props for the Storyteller

 

Multicultural Puppets:  Purchase Thai and Greek shadow puppets, Chinese glove puppets, Rajasthani puppets,  or Hindu Masks.  These are all made from paper mache.

http://www.parrotfish.co.uk/puppetry.htm

 

Alligator – made from paper mache

http://familycrafts.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ/Ya&sdn=familycrafts&cdn=parenting&tm=21&gps=52_10_989_529&f=11&su=p675.102.140.ip_&tt=14&bt=1&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.dltk-kids.com/animals/malligator.html

 

Mosquito from a round clothespin

http://www.kathyross.com/insectproj.html

 

Snake from pantyhose

http://www.kathyross.com/reptileproj.html

 

Snakes from Tie-Land – make a snake from an old necktie

http://www.rosethestorylady.com

 

Life-Size Recycled Dolls – Use an old bed sheet to make a life-size doll and dress him/her in old clothing.

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/cr_dolls/article/0,1789,HGTV_3242_1370404,00.html

 

Musical Instruments

 

African Drum – Use a carpet cardboard tube and plastic flower pot (plus a few other recycled items) to make an African Drum.

http://www.kinderart.com/multic/dumbek.shtml

 

Bleach Bottle Banjo – Directions on how to make and play a bleach bottle banjo

http://www.waringmusic.com/bleach_bottle_banjo.htm

 

Cigar Box Guitar – Shane Speal says this is “the instrument that time forgot.”  Look at the picture and get directions to “sorta build yerself one of these.”

http://www.geocities.com/cigarboxguitar/macanudo.html

 

Musical Instruments – directions for making musical instruments to go with Hap Palmer’s music.  Bolt, tambourine, shaker, bells, blocks and sticks

http://www.happalmer.com/makingteachingaids.htm

 

Musical Instruments - made from recycled materials:  bottle cap rattles, finger cymbals, humming flutes, jingle bell mitt, kazoo, musical bottle, etc.

http://familycrafts.about.com/od/musicalcrafts/

 

Musical Instruments – make at home from recycled materials:  guitar, shakers, rainsticks, xylophone, bull-roarer, etc.

http://www.storytimesongs.com/instruments.html

 

 

Puppets

 

http://www.story-lovers.com/puppets.html

Jackie Baldwin has an extensive list of activities, crafts, sources, games, songs, performances.

#23  on her list gives directions for making stick puppets

#25  has suggestions for adapting stories to use the puppets you have

 

The Muppets Make Puppets.  Cheryl Henson, Workman Publishing, New York, 1994.

            A wide variety of materials are reused to make glove puppets, sock puppets, hand puppets, box mouth puppets, rod puppets and more.  The book includes pictures and clear concise directions.

 

Storytelling with Puppets, Props and Playful Tales.  Mary Jo Huff, Monday Morning Books, P.O. Box 1680, Palo Alto, Ca. 94302, 1998.  http://www.mondaymorningbooks.com

            Excellent book with good directions. This book contains directions for box puppets, finger puppets, hand puppets, sock puppets, pop-up puppets, stick puppets and  a puppet-in-a-can as well as stories to use with preschoolers.

 

Finger Puppets  Two easy ways to make finger puppets.  Use an old glove or coin wrappers and pictures.

http://www.rosethestorylady.com

 

Glove Puppet -  Two simple ways to make a glove puppet using small pictures and an old glove.

http://www.rosethestorylady.com

 

Glove Puppet - Venus flytrap and fly puppets –use an old pair of work gloves for the Venus fly trap and the finger of another glove for the fly

http://www.kathyross.com/wildproj.html

 

Monkey Mitt (Glove Puppet)

A monkey mitt is a glove with Velcro on each finger.  Different sets of pictures (with Velcro on the back) can be used with the same mitt.  Marilyn Kinsella has provided directions for monkey mitts and some fingerplays  on her website.  Puppet Central on this site also includes suggestions for using puppets and puppet play script. 

http://www.marilynkinsella.org/Puppetry/making_a_monkey_mitt.htm

 

Hand Puppet – dress pattern

http://www.rosethestorylady.com

 

Hand Puppet - Expanding cactus puppet

http://www.kathyross.com/desertproj.html

 

Hand Puppets:  How to Make and Use Them. Laura Ross, Lothrop, Lee and Shepard Co., New York, 1969.

            Directions for sock puppets, paper mache puppets, pattern for puppet dress is included.

 

Hand Puppets – Turn an old stuffed critter into a hand or stick puppet.  Directions and pictures.

http://www.rosethestorylady.com

 

Hand Puppet – use Paper mache and a plastic liter soda bottle to make a puppet

http://coco.essortment.com/puppetsreceipe_rhvi.htm

 

Applehead Dolls – These heads could be used to make a hand puppet or a marionette. This site contains step-by-step directions with photos.

http://www.appledolls.org/

 

Marionette – Davy Jones Locker has step-by-step directions to make a scarecrow marionette.

http://www.puppets2000.com/index6a.html

 

Rod Puppet – Davy Jones Locker has step-by-step directions to make a rod puppet.

http://www.puppets2000.com/index6b.html

 

Stick Puppet - Family Fun website– Make a person puppet using a balloon, a stick  and paper mache

http://familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts/sew/feature/famf19puppet/famf19puppet4.html

 

Sock Puppets – Legends and Lore Website  - Simple directions and diagrams for a basic sock puppet

http://www.legendsandlore.com/sockpuppets.html

 

Sock and Stick Puppets – Easy to follow directions with pictures.

http://www.daniellesplace.com/html/puppets.html

 

 

 

Story Resources: Stories and Books that use recycled items or relate to recycling

 

“Paper Flower” by Fran Stallings.  Joining In: An Anthology of Audience Participation Stories & How to Tell Them.  Compiled by Teresa Miller with Assitance from Anne Pellowski, Edited by Norma Livo,  Yellow Moon Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1988.

            Use squares of paper cut from slick ads to make the origami objects in the story.  The flower can also be made using the directions for a newspaper tree in The Family Storytelling Handbook, page 85.  Teaching the children how to make this flower makes a good art project for children.

 

“The Tailor.”  Crazy Gibberish and Other Story Hour Stretches (from a Storyteller’s Bag of Tricks).  Naomi Baltuck, Linnet Books, Hamden, Connecticut, 1993.

            The tailor recycles the fabric from one article of clothing to make the next one.  Gift-wrap paper or newspaper can be cut to make the coat, jacket, vest, cap and button.

 

“Fat Cat Learns to Recycle” adapted by Rose Owens http://www.rosethestorylady.com

 

Just Enough to Make a Story: A Sourcebook for Storytelling.  Nancy Schimmel, Sister’s Choice Press, Berkeley, Ca. 1978.

            Annotate

 

Stories to Play With: Kids’ Tales Told with Puppets, Paper, Toys, and Imagination, Hiroko Fujita, Adapted and Edited by Fran Stallings.  August House Publishers, Little Rock, Ark., 1999. 

            Annotate

 

The Family Storytelling Handbook: How to Use Stories, Anecdotes, Rhymes, Handkerchiefs, Paper and Other Objects to Enrich Your Family Traditions.  Anne Pellowski, Macmillan Publishing Company, New York, 1987.

            Annotate

 

The Story Vine: A Source Book of Unusual and Easy-to-Tell Stories from Around the World.  Anne Pellowski, Macmillan Publishing Company, New York, 1984.

            Annotate

 

Ecotelling Stories

 

Earth Tales from Around the World.  Michael J. Caduto, Fulcrum Publishing, Golden, Colorado, 1997.

            Annotate

 

Keepers of the Earth:  Native American Stories and Environmental Activities for Children, Michael J. Caduto and Joseph Bruchac, Fulcrum Publishing, Inc., Golden, Colorado, 1988.

            This is a book about living, learning and caring.  It features a collection of North American Indian stories and related hands-on activities to help children ages 5-12 to feel a part of their surroundings.  The emphasis is on an interdisciplinary approach to teaching about the earth and Native American cultures.  Discussion of each story includes scientific information relating to that story.

 

Tales With Tales: Storytelling the Wonders of the Natural World.  Kevin Strauss, Libraries Unlimited, Westport, Connecticut, 2006.

            Annotate

 

Ugly, Donna Jo Napoli, Hyperion Books for Children, New York, 2006.

            This book is an expanded version of the story of the ugly duckling.  Ugly’s travels in Tasmania allow him to meet ducks, a wallaby, a wombat, geese, a platypus and a golden bushtail possum. Luckily the friendship of these wonderful friends makes his journey much easier.  Ugly finally learns he is an Australian Black Swan.  Accurate scientific details about each animal are woven into the story.

 

 

 

 

Recycling crafts for children

 

 

Crafts:  Kathy Ross – list of  books with facts and craft ideas that support ecotelling, craft ideas for storytellers and children

http://www.kathyross.com/wildpage.html

 

Craft ideas and directions

http://www.kathyross.com/archive.html

 

Easy-to-Do Holliday Crafts from Everyday Household Items!  Sharon Dunn Umnik, editor, Boyd’s Mill Press, Honesdale, Pennsylvania, 1995.

            Some of the craft projects that seem to relate to ecotelling are the milkweed pod mouse, photo mouse, turkey gobbler, dried corn-husk flower, newspaper puppet, clown stick puppet (from a detergent bottle),  and leafy paperweight.

 

Paper Bowl – made from pieces of torn paper

http://www.kathyross.com/archive.html  Project #22

 

Puppets for Kids – Directions to make sock puppets, paper bag puppets, stick puppets, hand puppets.   Simple directions with pictures.

http://www.daniellesplace.com/html/puppets.html

 

Animal Hand Puppets – Very simple patterns and directions for a bear, owl, cat and frog

http://www.robinsfyi.com/fun/hobbies/crafts/handpuppets.htm

 

Rainforest Diorama

http://www.kathyross.com/rainforestproj.html

 

Recycling Ideas and Recycling Craft Projects

http://www.allfreecrafts.com/recycling-crafts/index.shtml#denim

 

Shark Puppet from oatmeal box

http://www.kathyross.com/oceanproj.html

 

Space Ship that flies (made from oatmeal box)

http://www.kathyross.com/outerproj.html

 

 

Top 10 Creative Recycling Projects – directions to make CD rom fish, cardboard roll puppets, apple magnet, light bulb snowman, lady bug treasure box and other crafts

http://familycrafts.about.com/od/toppicks/tp/recycleprojects.htm

http://www.allfreecrafts.com/recycling-crafts/index.shtml#denim

 

 

Miscellaneous

 

Bottle-Print T-Shirt – Use a plastic liter pop bottle and paint to decorate a T-shirt

http://www.allfreecrafts.com/kids/bottle-tee.shtml

 

Homemade Instruments used by Doctor Oakroot – No directions on how to make them but this site has pictures of Dr. Oakroot and his Diddley Bow, Diddley Jo, The Cyclops, Goblin and other homemade instruments along with information on the materials he used to make each one

http://www.doctoroakroot.com/?parm=instruments#The_Cyclops

 

Paper Mache Recipes and directions

http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/papermache/a/blpmpastes.htm

 

Recipe for making “sticker” glue which will turn pictures into stickers

http://www.kathyross.com/giftproj.html

 

Storyteller’s Apron – Apron with many pockets which was made from old clothing.  Objects relating to the stories are put into the pockets and children take turns finding the objects.  There is a secret pocket at the end of one of the apron ties.  Picture at http://www.rosethestorylady.com

 

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