Island of Calm Workshop
Do you wish your family could join the Quest for Calm?
Learn creative tools for finding calm with Minneapolis artists, Z Puppets Rosenschnoz, and their Monkey Mind Pirates workshop combining puppets, music and yoga. The fun story, catchy music and loveable characters engage youth of all abilities with simple, easy to use techniques for navigating the stormy seas of stress, distraction and anxiety.
STEM of Puppets
Using STEM curriculum, our “Lab” provides a dynamic hands-on opportunity for youth ages 6+ and their adult companions to explore science, technology, engineering and math while making a puppet they can take home.
Youth ages 6+ and their adult companions have hands-on opportunities to explore science, technology, engineering and math while making a puppet they can take home. Drop into the Puppet Lab and become a Scient-Artist! Experiment with physics, math, engineering and your imagination. Go home with the power of puppets.
Recycled Object Inventions Lab
Take recycled objects and bits and scraps of arts materials, follow the Puppet Lab formula for creative experimentation, mix in your imagination and Voila! Eureka! Zoinks! You may invent a fantastic gizmo or out of this world creature to take home with you.
Glow-in-the-Dark Puppet Lab
Explore the curious world of blacklight. Test colors, tinker with materials and shapes to find the glow! Follow the Puppet Lab formula to design and engineer a critter to take home with you.
Shadow Puppet Lab
Design and build shadow characters to play with properties of light and create special effects based in this centuries' old puppetry tradition! We can focus on interpreting specific topics— like cell science or monkeys — or open it to all creatures of the imagination! Extended workshops can include making short shadow puppet videos.
Sock Puppet Lab
Discover what makes a common, ordinary sock come alive with character. Follow the Puppet Lab formula for using simple materials to make faces and experiment with expressions and see who appears in your hands.
Toy Theater Lab
Shrink the world down to size with Toy Theater! Using simple materials — paper, cardboard, magazine cut outs, markers — combine 2-D and 3-D design to make changing backdrops, set pieces and puppets. Then, the stage is yours to act out story upon story.
Playful Mindfulness Family workshop
Get the whole family moving with this mix of puppets, music, and yoga fun. Find calm with your children through Z Puppets' original songs, lovable characters and playful approach. Learn basic poses, playful games and creative techniques to do every day or anytime you need to navigate stormy seas. Turn your family’s “Arghs” into “Oms” with the Monkey Mind Pirates! You are welcome to bring your own mat or use one of ours.
The Secret Life of Puppets
Take a trip around the world and throughout the ages to learn the tricks of turning sticks, cloth, string and even your own hands into fun characters. In this hands-on exploration of our handmade puppets, each participant will experiment with the formula: imagination + technique = magic!
Improv Playground
Create spontaneous scenes and sudden characters through playful exploration of what pops in mind when you are not thinking! Sharpen skills that improve performance both on stage and in every day life: listening, cooperation, concentration and non-verbal and verbal communication
Laughter Lab
Experience the healing power of laughter with Z Puppets Creative Director and certified Laughter Yoga instructor Chris Griffith. Through a mix of games and exercises, we will engage each other in creative play.
Clay Islands of Calm
Working in groups, students collaboratively design a miniature island to build out of clay.
Giant Monkey Puppets
Working in groups, students collaboratively design and build 10 ft. tall monkeys, representing their challenges to calm.
Textile Map of Island of Calm
Each student designs a section of a class Island, choosing from simple materials and recycled objects to make a 2-D textile map.