The Art of Puppet Play
Photo courtesy of Carmen Campos
With a doctorate in Educational Leadership, a seasoned career in education, and a passion for puppet-making, Carmen Campos has the unique ability to blend the creative and cognitive, fostering the art of imagination in those around her.
Raised in a bilingual and bicultural family of artists and educators, Carmen spent many years teaching Spanish at all levels. It was only when she realized she couldn’t find the puppets she needed for her lessons that she began to create her own.
“I needed a Frida Kahlo puppet and couldn’t find one anywhere, so I had to make it myself,” Carmen shared. “The same thing happened with Diego Rivera, Pablo Picasso, and Jane Goodall. Later, when I needed inexpensive puppets for all my students, I learned how to make sock puppets.”
But Carmen didn’t simply grab a sock and some googly eyes and stop there. Instead, her passion grew, and she explored the world, developing skills and expertise in puppet-making and educating others on the many benefits puppets offer.
“With the support of my school, The Dalton School, I began traveling the world to learn different puppet-making styles and techniques from master puppeteers,” added Carmen. “I studied wood-carved marionettes in the Czech Republic, giant processional puppets in the Italian Alps, Punch and Judy glove puppets in London, and foam puppets in North Carolina. Along the way, I also learned about the cultural stories they tell — and about the incredible lives of puppeteers.”
In this Petite Institute feature, Carmen shares her thoughts on creativity and connection through puppet creation and play.
The Art of Puppet-Making
Carmen shares that puppets can be made from truly anything.
“I’ve put googly eyes on pencils, chairs, doors—even a teacher’s coffee cup! Once you add eyes, an object comes alive with a voice and a story. The teacher’s cup might ‘love being held’ and ‘prefer warm, sweet coffee!’”
“A great place to start is with a sock or a mitten and some button eyes,” she told us. “A stinky sock always gets a laugh! Give it a funny voice, a cute song, a name, a personality, and one distinctive trait—like ‘he loves marshmallows!’—and you’re ready to go.”
The Art of Imagination and Connection
“The wonderful thing about puppets is that they can be anything you want them to be,” said Carmen. “With just a sock, you can create a boy, a girl, a cat, a dog, a monster, a fish, a bug—you name it! Children love it when their parents get silly with them, and puppet play creates a joyful, low-pressure way to connect.”
But puppet play is more than just for fun.
“I love making animal puppets and using them to talk with children about some of the challenges animals face. It’s one of the reasons I love working with Jennifer Murray at Turtleback Farm Camp: it might be hard to get close to a real owl, but it’s much easier—and just as meaningful—to connect with an owl puppet.”
“I strongly believe that creative people are the ones who will solve the world’s problems. Creativity needs to be practiced and nurtured, without judgment. Young children are naturally imaginative, but somewhere around sixth or seventh grade, they often begin worrying that they’ll be judged if they aren’t ‘good’ at something artistic. It’s crucial to keep encouraging creativity at all stages of life.”
Carmen believes that imaginative play is beneficial for children and people of all ages, but is especially crucial during early childhood development.
“Puppets, for young children, can become powerful tools for social-emotional learning, healing, loving, teaching, and communicating. Puppets are wonderful for modeling positive behavior or enhancing a bedtime story.”
The Art of Teaching
This summer, Carmen will offer several workshops and events across the North Fork.
On Friday, August 8, Carmen will lead a "Create Your Own Cigar Box Crankie: A Storytelling Workshop" at the Southold Library.” Visit, southoldlibrary.org to learn more and to register when the program becomes available.
“One project I’m especially excited about is working with my son, Marc Sauvé, the author and illustrator of the children’s book ,“The Witch of Haberfield Park,” Carmen shared.
“Marc often performs puppet shows with me in Brooklyn, and together we’ll be leading two Puppet Camps at the North Fork Arts Center. Each camp will end with the children performing a puppet show for friends and family.” Visit northfork-artscenter.org to learn more and to register.
Carmen also plans to host programs with Turtleback Farm throughout the summer.
“I also love being invited to North Fork events to perform short puppet shows or host puppet-making workshops,” Carmen added. “I believe puppetry can bring magic anywhere—from vineyards to local festivals!”
Inspired by her passion for using puppetry in education, Carmen publishes puppeted.com — an online resource where that features tutorial videos, puppet ideas, and stories from Carmen’s puppet-making adventures around the world.
Carmen is also currently offering professional development workshops for teachers, where participants create furry, Muppet-style puppets and learn techniques for bringing puppets into their classrooms.