Puppetry Workshop
Date: February, 10, 2023
Venue: Activities Hall, SRCC Centre for Child Development

A Puppetry workshop was conducted for the children of CASE Special Education Therapy Department by Mr. Frederic Simon. Mr. Simon studied Economics and also pursued a career in acting. He was the Director of Alliance Francais at Mumbai until 2020. He has managed several workshops on dance, music, puppetry for young adults. His puppet making is very unique. He makes them out of nothing but everyday items, by just adding a thing here and there to give ordinary material like a dhoti, shawl, gloves life by making them into puppets. He gives them his voice and brings them to life! The workshop kept both therapists and children engaged and opened the possibilities of varied ways of teaching and learning. At CASE, children are always encouraged to think out of the box and this is exactly what this workshop helped them to do. Some of the children made puppets by knotting their handkerchiefs, using their socks as gloves and adding a thing or two to it to change it into a puppet. The fine movement required to wear a puppet usually helps with dexterity and using fingers to manipulate the puppet improves fine motor coordination. The workshop helped in developing imagination, creativity and observation skills in the children.