Children don't just make a puppet. They design a character that comes from who they are — their colors, symbols, questions, memories, and imagination — and then bring it to life through textile craft and performance.
Most puppet camps ask: "What character do you want to make?" This camp asks something different. It asks children to look at themselves first — their personality, their memories, their favorite things, what they're curious about, what they protect, what they wish people understood about them — and then asks: if all of that became a creature, what would it look like? This is identity design. It is one of the most human creative acts there is. It is also what every great character designer, illustrator, author, and storyteller does for a living. This camp gives children that process, in full, at their own level, in five days.
The signature of this camp is that identity comes first and craft follows it. Children do not choose a puppet template and decorate it. They go through a genuine design process — reflection, symbol-finding, visual translation, construction, animation, and performance — in which the object that emerges is inseparable from the person who made it.
The puppet is the proof. When a child holds it up on Day 5, it should be unmistakably, inarguably theirs.
| Time | Block | What Happens Here |
|---|---|---|
| 10:00–10:20 | Arrival | Invitation table with a prompt or material to explore. Ease-in, no whole-group instruction yet. The table is already doing the opening. |
| 10:20–10:40 | Circle | Opening circle. Warm-up game, sharing, and today's core question introduced. Builds community and sets the studio tone. |
| 10:40–11:20 | Studio 1 | First guided studio block. New concept, technique, or identity exploration introduced and practiced with support. |
| 11:20–11:35 | Snack + Move | Snack and movement break. Can include a short puppet-related game or physical warm-up for later animation work. |
| 11:35–12:20 | Studio 2 | Second guided studio block. Builds directly on Studio 1. Transitions from instruction into independent work. |
| 12:20–12:50 | Lunch | Lunch. Optional: a puppet question card on each lunch spot — a low-stakes way to keep thinking active during the break. |
| 12:50–1:50 | Build Studio | The longest uninterrupted work block. Independent or peer studio time. Teacher circulates, facilitates, and troubleshoots. This is where the puppet happens. |
| 1:50–2:15 | Reflect + Share | Closing circle. Reflection, sharing, performance practice, or showcase. Today's work documented in the journal. |
| 2:15–2:30 | Dismiss | Cleanup, pack-up, preview of tomorrow. Work stored safely at personal station. |
The six-part framework every camper moves through, at their own level and pace.
The Identity Map is a large-format (A3) document divided into six zones. Children draw, write, collage, and annotate freely. There are no wrong entries. The map is reference material, not an assessment. It lives in their design portfolio all week.
The Puppet Passport is a folded card (Howdy-branded) completed on Day 4 and presented on Day 5. It contains: the puppet's name, origin story (2–3 sentences), personality description, what it protects, what it loves, what it fears, and one thing it wants the world to know. For younger campers, this is completed with teacher support through conversation. For older campers, it is a written design document. Both are kept with the puppet forever.
Day 1 is entirely about gathering. Children are not making the puppet today. They are doing something harder and more interesting: they are looking at themselves as a designer looks at a brief — with curiosity, specificity, and care. The Identity Map is the primary document. The visual vocabulary is the secondary one. By end of day, every child should have a rich set of personal data to design from tomorrow.
| Time | Block | Activity | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00–10:20 | Arrival | The Collection Table | Each child finds a table spread with: small objects, fabric swatches, colored paper, images cut from magazines, yarn. One prompt card: "Take everything that feels like it belongs to you." No instructions. They are already designing. |
| 10:20–10:40 | Circle | Opening circle + name game | Go-around: "My name is ___, and one thing you should know about me is ___." Introduce the week: we are making puppets. But first, we are designing characters. And before that, we are doing something that takes the most courage: we are noticing ourselves. Share three objects Kirsten has collected that mean something to her. Model vulnerability as design data. |
| 10:40–11:20 | Studio 1 | The Identity Map | Introduce the A3 Identity Map document with its 6 zones. Kirsten completes her own out loud while children watch and annotate theirs simultaneously. Zone 1 (What I Love) and Zone 4 (What I Remember) completed in this block — the easiest zones to begin with. Children draw, write, or collage. Music playing. Teacher circulates and asks follow-up questions to help children go deeper: "Tell me more about that. What does it look like? What color is that feeling?" |
| 11:20–11:35 | Snack + Move | Creature walk warm-up | Snack, then: "Walk like something that is part you and part animal." No instructions beyond that. The room becomes a brief, silly, joyful experiment in physical character. Observe: this is already animation. We will come back to this on Day 4. |
| 11:35–12:20 | Studio 2 | Identity Map continued + visual vocabulary | Complete Zones 2, 3, 5, and 6 of the Identity Map. Then introduce the Visual Vocabulary: a half-page document where children choose and name their 3 colors, 2 shapes, 1 texture, and 1 symbol that belong to them. Teacher models: "My color is deep blue-green because it feels like early morning, which is when I feel most like myself." Children choose and explain — out loud, to a partner. The explanation matters as much as the choice. |
| 12:20–12:50 | Lunch | Lunch + question cards | A puppet character question card at each spot: "What sound does your character make when it's happy? When it's scared? What does it eat?" Purely optional — but some children will be answering by the time they finish eating. |
| 12:50–1:50 | Build Studio | Self-portrait + material swatch book | Two parallel activities, children choose their order. (1) Self-portrait drawing: not a realistic face — a symbolic self-portrait that uses colors, shapes, and images from their Identity Map. (2) Material swatch book: a small folded booklet where they tape fabric and material samples from the studio table, labeling each with why it does or does not belong to their character. Both documents go into the design portfolio. |
| 1:50–2:15 | Reflect + Share | One thing I discovered | Closing circle. Each child shares one thing from their Identity Map that they had not thought about before today, or that surprised them. Teacher affirms each entry. Journal entry: "The most important thing I know about my character so far is ___." Preview Day 2: "Tomorrow we design the character. You have everything you need." |
| 2:15–2:30 | Dismiss | Pack + store | Identity Maps and visual vocabulary documents stored in design portfolios at personal stations. Take-home prompt: "Notice three things about yourself tonight that you have never noticed before." |
Day 2 is the design day. Everything gathered on Day 1 becomes decisions: what the character looks like, how it is made, what fabric belongs to it, what expression it holds. The Identity Blueprint is created — two drafts, then one final version. This is the most cognitively rich day of the week. Give children time. The decisions they make today determine everything that follows.
| Time | Block | Activity | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00–10:20 | Arrival | Character study table | Table spread with images of famous puppets, illustrated characters, folktale creatures, and real animals with unusual features. Prompt card: "Find one that has something in common with your character. What is it?" Low-stakes visual research. |
| 10:20–10:40 | Circle | Identity Map share + character questions | Each child shares one symbol or color from their visual vocabulary and explains why it is theirs. Then Kirsten reads the six character design questions aloud one at a time, pausing between each. Children write or draw their first response in their journal — these are not final answers, just starting points. "If your personality became a creature, what would it look like?" |
| 10:40–11:20 | Studio 1 | Character design — first draft | Children draw their first character design attempt, full-body, with color. No template — free drawing on large paper. The instructions are: use your visual vocabulary. Let your Identity Map be the reference. Don't think about how to sew it yet. Kirsten circulates, asking: "What is this part of the character? Why does it have that feature? What does that color mean?" She is not directing — she is deepening. |
| 11:20–11:35 | Snack + Move | Personality mirror game | In pairs, one child moves like their character and the partner mirrors. Then switch. Discuss: what did your partner's character feel like? Did it match what you expected? This is the first test of whether the design is communicating what the child intends. |
| 11:35–12:20 | Studio 2 | The Identity Blueprint — final design | Children refine their design into the Identity Blueprint: an official labeled drawing on blueprint-grid paper with color swatches attached, notes on materials, expression description, and a 2-sentence character bio. Older campers also complete a "design rationale" section: "I chose ___ because ___." This document is the engineering brief for Days 3 and 4. Kirsten reviews each Blueprint and writes one observation note on a sticky. |
| 12:20–12:50 | Lunch | Lunch + name your character | Lunchtime challenge: give your character a name by the time lunch is over. The name does not need to be explained — it just needs to feel right. Children share their names at the end of lunch. Names are written in large letters on a strip of paper and posted at their station for the rest of the week. |
| 12:50–1:50 | Build Studio | Fabric selection + puppet body introduction | Introduce the hand puppet body pattern (pre-made base template in two sizes: small for younger, large for older). Demonstrate how the pattern becomes the puppet form. Children lay their Blueprint next to the body template and identify: which fabric goes where? What does the face need? What is the first material choice? They select fabrics from the studio table and store them at their station. No cutting yet — just selection and matching. |
| 1:50–2:15 | Reflect + Share | Introduce your character — first time | Each child holds up their Identity Blueprint and says: "This is ___. They are a ___. The most important thing about them is ___." First time saying the character out loud to the group. Notice: how does it feel to introduce them? Does the name land? Does the description match the drawing? Journal entry: "One thing I want to change before I start building and one thing I know for certain." |
| 2:15–2:30 | Dismiss | Store + preview | Blueprints stored in portfolio. Fabric selections labeled and stored at station. Preview: "Tomorrow we start building. Come ready to cut." Take-home: "What does your character dream about?" |
Day 3 is the first construction day. The materials are cut, the base body is assembled, and the character's physical form begins to emerge. The Identity Blueprint must stay open beside every child throughout this day — every construction decision should be traceable back to the character design. The sewing introduction is brief and technique-focused; the longest block of time is independent building.
| Time | Block | Activity | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00–10:20 | Arrival | Material handling table | Fabrics from their Day 2 selection are laid out at each station. Prompt card: "Touch each piece. Does it still feel right? Is anything missing? Does anything need to change?" Allows a quiet pre-session review of material decisions before cutting begins. |
| 10:20–10:40 | Circle | Sewing intro + safety | Kirsten demonstrates the running stitch on felt samples. "In the hole, out the hole, skip a hole." Then demonstrates the whip stitch. Then the blanket stitch (for older campers). Each child practices on a pre-punched burlap square before touching their project fabric. Establish needle and scissors safety norms explicitly — the rules are posted and referred to all day. |
| 10:40–11:20 | Studio 1 | Pattern introduction + cutting | Introduce the puppet body pattern (two pieces: front and back). Trace onto fabric, mark with chalk or disappearing ink. Cut with safety scissors or guided rotary cutter. Every child cuts their own body pieces. Teacher assists with curves. Key teaching moment: "We are not cutting a shape — we are cutting this character's body. Cut it like it matters, because it does." |
| 11:20–11:35 | Snack + Move | Texture walk | Move around the room and touch five surfaces. Find one that matches the inside of your character and one that matches the outside. Share with a partner. This is about material awareness — and it keeps the sensory connection to the design alive mid-construction. |
| 11:35–12:20 | Studio 2 | Stitch the body — together | All campers begin stitching the puppet body pieces together (leaving the bottom open for the hand). Kirsten guides the group through the first seam together, then children work at their own pace. Binder clips hold pieces while stitching. Teacher circulates and focuses on: consistent stitch spacing, pulling the thread firm (not tight), and keeping the design intention in mind at every step. |
| 12:20–12:50 | Lunch | Lunch + character voice experiment | Lunch question card: "Read your character's name three times in three different voices. Which one was right?" No sharing required — this is private experimentation. But children almost always start talking about it anyway. |
| 12:50–1:50 | Build Studio | Main build — body + face foundation | Full independent build time. Goal by end of block: puppet body is sewn, right-side out, and the hand fits inside comfortably. Face foundation begun — eyes placed (not sewn), facial expression tried. Teacher circulates. Key prompt: "Put your hand inside. Does it feel like your character yet? What needs to happen to make it feel more like them?" For children who finish the body early: begin cutting face and feature pieces for Day 4. |
| 1:50–2:15 | Reflect + Share | The hand-inside moment | Every child puts their hand inside their puppet (even if incomplete) and holds it up. One-sentence share: "This is ___ and right now they feel ___." First physical encounter with the character as a real object. This moment is significant — mark it. Journal entry: "What changed when I put my hand inside?" Preview Day 4: "Tomorrow we give them their face, their details, and their voice." |
| 2:15–2:30 | Dismiss | Store + check-in | Puppet bodies stored safely. Kirsten does a quiet individual check-in with any child who is behind or struggling — a private, specific plan for Day 4 is established. Take-home: "What does your character need that it doesn't have yet?" |
Day 4 is the most emotionally rich day of the week. The face is constructed — which is the most personal design decision in the whole project. Then, with the puppet near-complete, children discover how to animate it: how it moves, how it listens, how it speaks. This is the transition from maker to performer, and it often surprises children with how naturally the character's voice arrives. Protect the afternoon build block fiercely — it is the most important hour of the week.
| Time | Block | Activity | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00–10:20 | Arrival | Face options table | Table spread with: buttons, felt circles, embroidery thread, yarn pieces, safety eyes, sequins, fabric paint, beads. Prompt card: "Pick everything that belongs to your character's face. You don't have to use it — just gather it." Tactile pre-thinking for face construction. |
| 10:20–10:40 | Circle | Face design discussion | Kirsten holds up her own puppet (from the week's model-making) and demonstrates three different face configurations on the same body — buttons vs. embroidered eyes vs. safety eyes. Discuss: how does each face change the character completely? The face is not decoration. The face is the character's emotional language. Children pull out their Blueprint and make a final face decision before touching materials. |
| 10:40–11:20 | Studio 1 | Face construction | Children construct and attach the face — the most personal and technically careful step of the build. Teacher provides one-on-one guidance for button attachment (double-thread through fabric base), felt feature placement, and expression testing (put your hand inside, look at the face — is that the expression you designed?). Younger children may need features pre-cut; their design choices still fully direct the outcome. |
| 11:20–11:35 | Snack + Move | Voice lab | Snack with an experiment: each child tries five voices for their character — high, low, slow, fast, whisper. No puppets yet. Just voices. They choose the one that "sounds like" the character and tell a partner: "My character's voice is ___ because ___." This is pre-animation work — finding the sound before finding the movement. |
| 11:35–12:20 | Studio 2 | Details, embellishment + Puppet Passport | Two parallel tasks. (1) Final detail layer: hair, ears, costume elements, accessories, embroidered patterns — all traceable to the Identity Blueprint. The Howdy tag is attached today. (2) Puppet Passport: each child fills out their character's story card with teacher support. For younger campers, this is a conversation that Kirsten writes down. For older campers, it is a written document. Both are equally valid and equally official. |
| 12:20–12:50 | Lunch | Lunch + puppet conversation | Today's lunch card: "Have a conversation between your puppet and the person next to you's puppet. What do they talk about?" This is the first spontaneous performance moment of the week. It will almost certainly be the loudest, funniest lunch of the five days. |
| 12:50–1:50 | Build Studio | Animation workshop | The full build hour becomes an animation studio. Kirsten leads five short exercises with puppets: (1) Enter the space — how does your character walk into a room? (2) Listen — how does your character react when someone is talking? (3) The surprise — something unexpected happens; how does your character respond? (4) The question — your character wants to ask the audience one question. (5) The exit — how does your character leave? After each exercise, children discuss: "What did you discover?" This is character validation through physical performance. |
| 1:50–2:15 | Reflect + Share | Performance practice + showcase prep | Each child practices their Day 5 showcase moment: 60–90 seconds. They can choose one of: (1) introduce the character directly to the audience; (2) perform a short scene of 3–5 exchanges; (3) interview format — Kirsten interviews the puppet, in character. Children choose their format today. Practice twice. Give each other one piece of feedback: "The moment I believed in your puppet most was ___." Journal entry: what I want people to notice tomorrow. |
| 2:15–2:30 | Dismiss | Prep + send-off | Puppets stored safely. Passport completed or near-completed. Preview Day 5: "Tomorrow is your puppet's first day in the world. It's ready. You're ready." Take-home: "Practice your showcase moment tonight. Put your hand inside and introduce your puppet to someone at home." |
Day 5 is the week's culmination and its most human day. The showcase is not about perfect puppetry — it is about each child standing in front of people they trust and saying, through a character they made: "Here is something about me that I designed for you to see." That act takes courage. The teacher's job today is to make the room safe enough for that courage to be easy.
| Time | Block | Activity | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00–10:20 | Arrival | Showcase setup + final touches | Children arrive and have 20 minutes for final refinements — one last stitch, one last detail, one last look at the Blueprint. Then they set up their display: puppet standing up at their station, Passport displayed, Portfolio open. This is their gallery opening. The room should feel ceremonial. |
| 10:20–10:40 | Circle | Final warm-up + showcase prep | Kirsten leads a breathing and focus exercise in character — "Put your puppet on. Take three breaths as your character." Then: one final run of each child's showcase moment, in the circle, just to the group, before families arrive. This private dress rehearsal is the most important step — it builds confidence in a safe space. |
| 10:40–11:20 | Studio 1 | Showcase — family invited | Families arrive. Each child has a 60–90 second showcase moment. Format varies by child's choice from Day 4. Kirsten facilitates and introduces each child and character. After each showcase, one adult in the room (not a family member — to keep it even) names one specific thing they noticed about the character design. Then families have 5 minutes to look at the portfolio display and the Identity Blueprint. The room is the exhibit. |
| 11:20–11:35 | Snack + Move | Puppet free play | Unstructured puppet play — children and families, puppets in hand. Let the characters interact, improvise, discover. This is the most generative 15 minutes of the week. It is also observable evidence of everything the camp was trying to do. |
| 11:35–12:20 | Studio 2 | Design portfolio review + reflection | Families seat themselves. Each child walks a parent or guardian through their design portfolio: "This is my Identity Map — here is where I started. This is my Visual Vocabulary. This is my first character sketch. This is my Identity Blueprint. This is my Puppet Passport. This is my puppet." The walk-through shows the arc of the process — flat thinking became a three-dimensional character. This conversation is the educational outcome made visible. |
| 12:20–12:50 | Lunch | Celebratory lunch | Families welcome to stay for lunch. Puppets present at the table. No structured activity — pure community. Kirsten circulates and speaks individually with each child: one specific observation about what she noticed them discover this week. |
| 12:50–1:50 | Build Studio | Final journal entry + character future | Final journal entry with three prompts: "This is what I made. This is what I noticed about myself. This is where my character is going next." Children also receive their Howdy Playgear certificate and their "What to make next" card with three specific project ideas that build on what they did this week. Families depart; space becomes the closing circle. |
| 1:50–2:15 | Reflect + Share | Closing circle — the last word to the character | Private closing circle, just the camp group. Kirsten goes around: each child holds up their puppet and says one last thing to it. Not about it. To it. Directly. This is optional — children can pass — but in practice, almost everyone speaks. The room is usually very quiet and very full. Kirsten speaks last, to her own puppet. |
| 2:15–2:30 | Dismiss | Certificates + send-off | Each child receives a Howdy Playgear Design Lab certificate and their "What to make next" card. Kirsten reads one specific observation about each child's design thinking out loud before they leave. Take everything home: puppet, passport, journal, portfolio, Identity Map, and material swatch book — the complete record of who they were this week. |
What every camper demonstrates by Friday — and how to recognize it when you see it.
These are not test outcomes. They are observable behaviors and products. The puppet is the proof of all of them simultaneously.
Completed a six-zone Identity Map with specific, personal content. Can name at least three things they "Notice, Love, or Carry" that they had not articulated before the camp began. The map is reference material — not a worksheet — and shows genuine thought.
Chose a personal visual vocabulary (colors, shapes, textures, symbols) and traced those choices through to the finished puppet. Can explain why they chose each material and how it connects to the character. The design is intentional, not accidental.
Executed a running stitch independently on fabric. Cut fabric pieces using a pattern. Assembled a hand puppet with a complete body and face. For older campers: used at least two different stitch types with intentional application.
Moved through all six stages of the Identity by Design framework — Notice, Choose, Design, Build, Animate, Share — with evidence in their design portfolio at each stage. Experienced at least one moment of revision or iteration and can name what changed and why.
Demonstrated the puppet's personality through at least five physical and vocal exercises on Day 4. Performed a showcase moment on Day 5. The character's personality is consistent across the design, the animation, and the performance — a sign that the identity work was deep enough to carry across all three.
Introduced their character to an audience and the audience could identify at least one connection between the puppet and the child who made it. This is the camp's core achievement: a child used design to communicate something true about who they are to people who were paying attention.
Everything Kirsten needs to hold the week with confidence, care, and flexibility.
Everything needed for one session of 8 students, five days. Organized by category.
Everything you need to know before, during, and after the camp week.
Your child will spend five days designing and building a soft hand puppet that comes from who they are — their personality, memories, favorite things, and imagination. They will not be following a template. They will not be copying a character from a show or book. They will be doing something harder, more interesting, and more valuable: they will be designing a character that communicates something real about themselves, then building it, and finally performing with it in a small showcase at the end of the week.
The result is an object that is unmistakably theirs. You will know it when you see it.
On Friday, June 13, families are invited to attend the Puppet Showcase during the morning block (approximately 10:40–11:20am — exact time confirmed by Kirsten on Thursday). Each child has a 60–90 second moment to introduce or perform with their puppet in front of the group. Formats vary by child's choice: some will introduce and describe their character, some will perform a short scene, and some will be "interviewed" by Kirsten in character.
After the showcase, you are invited to view your child's design portfolio at their station and hear them walk you through it. There is no script for this — your child will lead it. Ask them: "Why did you choose that?" That question alone will produce a conversation you will remember.
Please note: this is not a polished performance. It is an honest one. Children who feel shy about performing in front of groups have been given a gentle format. All formats are equally valid. The goal is communication, not perfection.
Each day your child receives a take-home prompt — a single question or observation challenge. You are not required to discuss it, but if you do: listen more than you respond. These prompts are designed to surface things your child noticed about themselves during the day that they may not have said out loud yet.
The prompts by day: Day 1: "Notice three things about yourself tonight that you have never noticed before." Day 2: "What does your character dream about?" Day 3: "What does your character need that it doesn't have yet?" Day 4: "Practice your showcase moment. Introduce your puppet to someone at home." Day 5: they have the puppet — the conversation will find its own way.
If your child is quiet about the camp on the way home, try asking: "What is your character's name?" That question almost always opens something.
The Identity by Design framework asks children to look at themselves as creative material — to notice what they love, what they remember, what they carry, and what they wonder about — and to turn those observations into something they can hold and show to other people. This is not therapy, and it is not about self-esteem in a generic sense. It is about the specific creative act of self-representation through design.
Not every child will want to put deeply personal things into their puppet, and that is entirely valid. Some children will make a character that feels more playful or fantastical than autobiographical. The framework supports both. What matters is that the child made a real design decision — that they chose, intentionally, what their character is and why.
If your child comes home seeming moved by something they noticed about themselves, treat it gently. The Identity Map surfaces things children know but have rarely said out loud. That surfacing is the most valuable thing the camp does, and it sometimes arrives quietly, on the drive home, three days in.