Workshops

Creating, Playing & Learning Together

Puppets Are Fun at Every Age & Stage of Life!

All workshops are tailored to meet the needs of each group.

  • A 1 hour workshop allows each individual enough time to make their own sock puppet.

  • A 1 1/2 hour workshop includes a puppet performance, the making of a puppet by all participants & techniques for building puppeteering skills.

  • A 2 hour workshop includes everything in a 1 1/2 hour workshop plus 30 extra minutes for participants to practice some puppet improv to help hone their skills as a puppeteer.

  • Longer workshops & projects of several hours, right up to several months; can also include script writing, stage design & building, set design & creation, in-depth experimentation & practice with different styles of puppetry, and a performance for an audience of your choice.

Workshops in Peterborough, Ontario are approximately $100 per hour plus $10 per workshop participant for materials. Outside of Peterborough, travel expenses are added to the total cost. To explore the options for booking a workshop with Shelley, click here.

Check out this overview of workshop ideas for people of all ages and stages of life!

Building & Strengthening Relationships Within a Family, Classroom, Organization or Community

Unleashing Imagination: Puppets in the Classroom

Making and using "Puppets in the Classroom" is an ideal way to engage students through creativity while satisfying several parts of the school curriculum.

Start with a 90 minute foundational workshop that includes a performance, puppet making and puppetry skills.

To go deeper, schedule additional 90 minute workshops for students to work in small groups to create, enhance and perform their own story for their fellow students.

Puppets Are An Amazing Tool for Caregivers

There are so many valuable ways to use puppets as a tool when caregiving. Taking the time to make a puppet with the person in your care is a great way to build a stronger connection and learn more about each other. Puppets are a great tool for people at any age and stage of life.

Puppet Fun With Friends

Let Imagination & Creativity Replace Lost Memories

Caring for a person with dementia is tough. When a person you care for loses their memories; family, friends and caregivers feel guilty, confused and frustrated because they don’t know how to navigate changes in personality and behaviours that result from memory loss and other changes in the brain. 

When memories you used to share are no longer accessible to your person with dementia, it's time to shift the focus to IMAGINATION & CREATIVITY. A "Creative Care" approach to caregiving allows you to shape "life with dementia" together, in a way that is engaging, joyful and meaningful.

Shelley offers creative & engaging workshops for people with dementia, that spark imagination and take the pressure off of remembering.  She also facilitates workshops & designs resources for caregivers, to teach creative strategies & activities that build meaningful connection and many moments of shared joy with the person or people you care for.

Our workshop offerings for Long Care and Retirement Homes, not only spark imagination and creativity for the people who live there, but also provide invaluable coaching and training for Activity Staff so they can keep the joy and connection growing for even more residents.

Have an “All in the Family” Workshop

Bringing family members together to honour and engage with your person with dementia is a wonderful way to create “new” family memories. We are happy to accommodate your ideas and creative goals for a family project. A process that works really well, is to work together within your family unit to create a puppet to represent each person in the family. When the puppets are made, the stories can be told. Using story prompts, the group can engage in some playful puppet improv that is designed to get the stories flowing. It’s also an ideal way to share with your loved one, the qualities you most love about them. The workshop and storytelling can be filmed so you have a keepsake of this special time shared with one another. Many families like to use the film and/or puppets at the “Celebration of Life” when that time comes. Artful Connections brings all the puppet making materials and facilitates the process of creating puppets, teaching simple puppeteering techniques, and guiding you through the process of puppet improv.

Professional Development & Staff Retreats with Puppets

Making and using puppets together is a fun and creative way to build staff moral, enhance communication skills, expand creativity and problem-solving skills and have fun.

Puppetry for Libraries, Camps & Professional Development Days

Intergenerational Projects with Community Partners

There is so much magic that happens when young people and elderly people have the opportunity to learn together, create together, and play together.  It is the very definition of connection & joy!

Every Intergenerational project is unique due to the collaborations between the group of elders, the age of the ‘younger generation’, participating artists, and other community partners. Shelley uses her skills as a community arts coordinator and artist/puppeteer to bring collaborators together and coordinate the process of making intergenerational magic.

What Our Client’s Are Saying

  • “Shelley hit the nail on the head when she created a custom puppet show for us here at Community Living, to teach children about Inclusion and kindness. This was an amazing way to spread our message in a way that children are excited about! I would highly recommend Shelley King to other social service agencies, schools etc. as a creative way to teach children and families. She is not only a great performer but went over and above for us and included parent handouts, visits with the puppets and an ice breaker game. Thank you!”

    Laurie Oram, Child & Family Support Facilitator, North Hastings Community Integration Association

  • Shelley King embodies Play, Fun and Laughter while giving people the tools to navigate difficult times and emotions safely and creatively!! Her arts-based workshops and services inspire the imagination while gently helping participants bring out their true Inner Child. For healthier individuals, families and organizations alike, Shelley King’s workshops are a must!

    Cynthia Mitchell - Life Coach, Educator, Speaker (www.sweetperspectives.ca)

  • “Shelley’s workshop was a major highlight of the year for my students. She prepared an age appropriate lesson and was so engaging throughout the entire session. The students were able to see first-hand how to bring their puppets to life and use them as a tool to communicate. We find ourselves constantly referring back to Shelley’s workshop. This is an experience I would definitely recommend.” - Meaghan Kimball, Grade 1 HUB Teacher, Monterey Park Elementary School, Calgary, AB

    Meaghan Kimball, Grade 1 HUB Teacher, Monterey Park Elementary School, Calgary, AB

  • "Shelley has a very unique approach that makes people feel really good around her. I admire the fact that her purpose is really to help others have more happiness in life so that they can also help others in their turn. Her mission is to share the magic and power of using puppetry and expressive arts with others. Her motivation in creating these workshops & tutorials, is to guide us through the strategies, tools and processes she has learned and developed, so that our journey as a family or professional caregiver is more creative, playful, and engaging. I HIGHLY recommend that you hire Shelley King! "

    Caroline Bernier-Dionne Puppet Podcast Host & Co-Founder https://www.puppetpodcast.com/