Makerspaces and Sock Puppets!

Have you noticed the fun taking place lately at Capstone with a few new friends?  If you missed it, check out Capstone on Twitter or Instagram to take a peak. 

I sure have and it has been such a blast to watch as sock puppets are coming to life as part of the debut of the Sock Puppet Theatre series.  

In fact, this series is part of the new Dabble Lab books from Capstone, which as the logo says....Inspires the maker in every kid! 

The Dabble Lab line of books are filled with creativity and critical thinking, taking our makers to new level as they make, create, test, explore, perform and more.  

The website states, 

Each series allows makers to explore a given topic with a compelling mix of projects that are guided to a point, but ultimately open-ended as kids explore everything from the whys of suspension bridges to the delights of creating a puppet show.

Science Brain Builders — Engineering and computer science projects encourage students to make their own models and test different variables.

Project Passion — Crafting becomes the fifth C in this series that encourages critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity.

Sock Puppet Theater — Check out the Capstone social media feeds to see how much fun this series has been at the office! In addition to its Makerspace themes, it’s an excellent resource for hard-to-find materials to meet standards involving scripts.

You can find out more here on the Capstone site. 

Tonight when I saw this tweet from my friend Molly O'Sullivan, I thought....Yes! The new Sock Puppet Theatre books would be the perfect resource to bring to our Makerspaces as our students are creating with socks and other old sweaters, hats and clothes too. 

When I tweeted back to Molly about these books,  I couldn't wait to take a closer look at these amazing new books too!  

In addition to Little Red Riding Hood...A Make and Play Production there is.... The Three Billy Goat Gruff, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, 

and The Three Little Pigs.  

From the description, you can see that these books have so much to offer through...

a fun and engaging format throughout the book.

The Table of Contents shows that each book is packed full of not just ways to create sock puppets, but also....

 the Story of each,

 the Plot,

 the Cast and...

of course the sock puppet creation Supplies to Create....

 and Directions.  

And that's not it!  The description shares, 

As an added bonus, this book also includes a fun starter script, helpful acting and performance tips, and clever suggestions for making your play truly unique.  

Plus a Glossary, a place to Read More, Internet Sites and even Maker Space Tips!  How cool and helpful is that! 

The author Christopher L. Harbo has created something extra special for our makers.

By tying each book into a literacy maker experience through classic stories, these books are creating something unique and will bring meaningful connections to our Makerspaces and curriculum.  

We saw what the Sock Puppet Theatre series brought to our friends at Capstone.  

And it was SO MUCH FUN seeing the sock puppets that Marcy Morin, the main Craft Creator in the Capstone studio, created for the books. 

I can't wait to see what they bring to your library and classroom too. 

Now, as you are thinking about how you will be able to use the Sock Puppet Theatre series with your students, I thought of a couple more resources that would be super fun to use.  

The first is the Sock Puppets app for iPhone and iPad.  You can find that here free in the iTunes Store.  

With Sock Puppets, you can select different characters, 

backgrounds,  

and then record your very own little sock puppet production.  

I always loved using the Sock Puppets app with students.  You can even have up to 4 students on one device at a time with this app, because they can add 4 sock puppets.  

After they have finished their sock puppet production, it can be sent by a link or uploaded to YouTube. 

Here is one Hagan and his friend did when they were in 1st grade. It is called Let's Go To The Library.  They had so much fun.  

Read about this project on my blog. 

Second, I just have to include one of my all-time favorite read alouds by my friend Cece Bell...Sock Monkey Boogie-Woogie. 

There are three in the Sock Monkey series...You can check them out on Cece's site here.

Cece even created a little video so you can learn how to draw sock monkeys too. 

And last but not least, check out Pinterest for tons of sock puppet and even sock monkey ideas, patterns, lessons and projects.  

It is full of terrific ideas to go along with these books and the app.  

You can find the Sock Puppet Theatre Dabble Lab series on the Capstone site here.  These are available in print and as an eBook in Capstone Interactive.  

Have an awesome creating, preforming and learning with your sock puppets. 

And think of other ways you can tie literacy in your Makerspaces.  I know that after spending time with these books and resources, I can't stop thinking of the possibilities and fun!