In 2020, when Covid prevented people to celebrate Christmas the way they used to, I shared patterns to act out the nativity story as a shadow puppet performance at home, in the classroom, or online.
Helene is the founder of Past Times and a crafter, archivist, and children’s book author. Her passion is bringing history to life for children, classrooms, and families through imagination and play.
American history
Local history tableaus
There are 22 places in the United States that are called Lawrence. But only one of them got that name because the original one, Maidenhead, was thought to be too embarrassing for ladies. On the
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Black history
William Still and the Underground RailRoad
Free-born Black abolitionist William Still has been called the “father of the Underground Railroad” (URR)–the network of free Blacks, Quakers, and abolitionists who helped enslaved people in the South escape to the North in the
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Music and composers
Playing Bach
Are you a closet conductor and you love Bach? Do you play Bach on the organ, the piano, or the violin, or do you wish you could? Here is your chance to play Bach as
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Music and composers
Acting out Schubert’s Erlking with silhouette puppets
The first time I learned how music can tell a story was when my mother bought a new recording of Schubert’s song Erlkönig (Erlking/Elf King). The German poem that the composer set to music, written
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Black history
Riding a galloping horse
Shadow puppetry offers opportunities to act out stories from the Underground Railroad, the network of free Blacks, Quakers, and abolitionists who helped men, women, and children escape slavery in the decades prior to the Civil
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Bible stories
Silhouette puppets to act out Bible stories
A new set of mix-and-match puppets in biblical dress is available in the Printable Library. With a choice of different heads, upper, and lower bodies, and optional headdress they will enable you to create characters
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Bible stories
Nativity Puppets in Quarantine
On January 6, 2019, the day that Epiphany is celebrated in Western churches, I wrote a blog post telling the nativity story with shadow puppets. Although I originally planned to make the patterns available through my Printable
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Greek mythology
How to act out Heracles’ labors using your own imagination
In our post about acting out Greek myths we have touched upon the heroes Perseus and Theseus. The most popular hero however (as seen in Greek art) was Heracles, often known for his Roman name Hercules.