Workshops
Storytelling, design technology and art activity sessions for schools.
The Crowman has been working in schools for over ten years. In a range of workshop sessions on different themes for class sized groups, pupils use listening skills and are engaged in making masks, shadow puppets or simple musical instruments. This can then lead to creative writing as a follow up and the use of the items made in displays or presentations by the class. The following workshop sessions have been designed to meet the needs of primary schools. The sessions last for a morning or afternoon with the usual breaks and all materials are provided.
Spirit Birds - The Crowman tells the traditional Russian folk tale “The Firebird” and demonstrates how to make a striking, full-face “magical bird” mask. The children then produce their own individual version of the mask and are invited to name it and write a story about the character that they have created. Ideas for display are discussed and the session ends with another bird story.
Shadows and Light - Using stories from the Native American tradition about light and fire the children make large, bold shadow puppets from the characters and take turns to make them dance on the screen. No full blackout is needed for the puppets to be effective and for a small extra cost The Crowman will leave a screen sheet with you for later use.
Monsters - Another shadow puppet workshop like the above. After a story, monstrous creatures are imagined and their shadows are paraded on the screen. Ideas for follow up writing are explored.
Well Told Tales - Water is the most essential element for life and yet the one most easily taken for granted in our culture. The wealth of tradition and stories about wells and springs shows that this was not always so. The Crowman tells the ancient folk tale "The Three Heads of the Well" and discusses the importance of water to encourage an increase in water consumption and awareness of its health benefits in support of the healthy schools initiative. The children are shown how to make their own "Well Spirit" mask or shadow puppet that can then be used as a stimulus for creative writing.
The First Musicians – The Crowman tells the story of the first musicians in the rainforest and shows the old toolchest in which he keeps his collection of instruments and soundmakers. With the aid of these he explains the principles behind some of the first musical instruments and demonstrates how simple scrap instruments can be made with everyday materials. The children are then shown how to make and decorate their own loud “boglehorn” out of cardboard poster tubes and balloons. (Heads can be made to go on the end of these tubes to produce noisy puppets) These can then be taken in procession into other classrooms or a school assembly. As a quieter alternative, the children can make and decorate their own rainsticks using transparent plastic cups.
Following the same format as above, other sessions offered are: The Green Man - Storytelling and mask making, Isis and Osiris - Storytelling and mask making, Dragons - Storytelling and mask making, Bugs - Storytelling and making colourful insect models.
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Other themes and stories can be used by request.