Puppet Stories
Snowflake Puppet
Put the Beaver Scout into teams of 6.
One to be the sun, the others to be the
snowflakes.
Make up the puppets (click
here) by enlarging them, colouring and cutting out the characters and
attaching a lolly-stick to the back.
Then perform:-
One little snowflake with nothing to do.
Along came another and
Then there were two.
Two little snowflakes laughing with me.
Along came another, and
Then there were three.
Three little snowflakes looking for some more.
Along came another, and
Then there were four.
Four little snowflakes dancing a jive.
Along came another, and
Then there were five.
Five little snowflakes having so much fun.
Out came the sun, and
Then there were none!
Put the Beaver Scout into teams of 6.
One to be the mother duck, the others to
be the ducklings.
Make up the puppets (Click
here) by enlarging them, colouring and cutting out the characters and
attaching a lolly-stick to the back.
Then perform:-
Five little ducks
Went out one day
Over the hill and far away
Mother duck said
"Quack, quack, quack, quack."
But only four little ducks came back.
Four little ducks
Went out one day
Over the hill and far away
Mother duck said
"Quack, quack, quack, quack."
But only three little ducks came back.
Three little ducks
Went out one day
Over the hill and far away
Mother duck said
"Quack, quack, quack, quack."
But only two little ducks came back.
Two little ducks
Went out one day
Over the hill and far away
Mother duck said
"Quack, quack, quack, quack."
But only one little duck came back.
One little duck
Went out one day
Over the hill and far away
Mother duck said
"Quack, quack, quack, quack."
But none of the five little ducks came back.
Sad mother duck
Went out one day
Over the hill and far away
The sad mother duck said
"Quack, quack, quack."
And all of the five little ducks came back.
First ask the BS to
make finger puppets of the following animals:
Hare, elephant, lion, rhinoceros,
giraffe, hippos, antelope, buffalo, warthogs, zebras, aardvarks, hyenas,
mongooses, storks and weaver birds (or any animals you like and change the
story!)
To make the puppets find pictures of the animals on the internet or in MS
Word. Let the BS colour and cut them out and either stick onto lolly-sticks or
add a band of paper to fit around a finger.
The story:
Nothing stirred on the African plains. The sun glared down and Hare crept
inside the cool hollow of a baobab tree for his afternoon nap.
Suddenly he was wide awake. There was a boom, boom, booming in his
ears. And it was getting closer. Hare peeped out from the tree nervously. Across
the clearing the bushes snapped and parted, and out loomed a huge gray shape.
"Oh it's you!" said Hare irritably. "How can a fellow sleep with
all your racket?"
The rhinoceros squinted down at him short-sightedly.
"Greetings!" he bellowed in his slow way. "Tembo the elephant has
sent me to fetch you to the waterhole. He's going to tell us who our new king
will be. All the animals have voted."
"Oh fiddlesticks!" cried Hare rudely. "What do I want with a new
king? He'll bully us from morning till night and make our lives miserable."
"Don't you want to see who's been chosen?” asked Rhino.
"I know already," snapped Hare. "It will be that sly old lion,
Kali. He has bribed all the other animals and promised not to eat their children
if only they will vote for him."
Rhino didn't seem to believe Hare, and in the end Hare said,
"Oh very well, I'll come. But you'll see I'm right."
The sun was setting as Hare and Rhino reached the water-hole. All the animals
had gathered there - giraffes, hippos, antelope, buffalo, warthogs, zebras,
aardvarks, hyenas, mongooses, storks and weaver birds. When Tembo the elephant
saw that everyone was there, he threw up his trunk and trumpeted. "Animals
of the plains, I am proud to tell you that Kali the lion will be our new king.
It is a wise choice, my friends."
The animals cheered. But Hare only sighed. "They'll soon see what a
horrible mistake they've made."
Out on a rocky ledge above the water-hole strode Kali. He stared down at all his
subjects and there was a wicked glint in his eye.
"You've made me your king," he growled, "and so now you'll serve
me!" And then he roared until the animals trembled.
"My first decree is that you must build a palace to shade my royal fur from
the hot sun," said Kali. "I want it here beside the water-hole and I
want it by sunset tomorrow.
"My second decree is that every day you must bring me an animal for
my supper. A king can't do his own hunting."
The animals nodded gloomily.
"And my third decree is, if you don't do as I say, I'll eat the lot of
you!"
The animals now turned to one another in horror. They had thought a king would
be wise and protect them. But Kali only wanted to bully and eat them. As
darkness fell, the unhappy animals slunk away into the bush.
But at dawn they were back at the waterhole, hurrying to build Kali's palace.
There was much to do and little time.
All through the heat of the day the animals lugged and labored. Elephants lifted
tree trunks for the pillars, crocodiles brought mud for the walls, giraffes
collected grasses that weaver birds wove for the roof. None dared stop for a
moment. Only hare did nothing. He hid inside a tussock of oat grass and watched
as the fine thatched house rose up beside the water-hole.
The sun was just beginning to set as the weaver birds tied off the last
knots in the soaring thatched roof. No sooner had they finished than Kali
appeared. He prowled up and down his new kingdom swishing his tail while his
subjects watched uneasily.
"This is what I call a palace," he roared at last.
The animals gave a sigh of relief. But all too soon, for in the next breath the
lion snarled, "But where's my supper? My belly's rumbling. Bring me a juicy
warthog."
As soon as he heard this, Hare sneaked off home to his hollow in the baobab
tree. "Didn't I tell them?" he said to himself. "Didn't I say
that making Kali king would mean big trouble? And would anyone listen?"
And so it was that every day afterwards one of the animals was chosen to be
Kali's supper. One day it was an impala. Another it was a zebra. Next it was a
gazelle.
One day though it was Hare's turn. Tembo caught him unawares as he was grazing
on the plains. The great elephant seized him in his trunk and carried him
kicking and screaming to Kali's palace.
"It's not fair!" shrieked Hare. "I didn't even vote for Kali. I
told you it was a bad idea to have a king."
But Tembo wouldn't listen. He was thinking of his own
children. They would be safe, but only if he could find other animals for Kali
to gobble up.
Outside Kali's palace Hare stood shaking and cringing. He had to think of
something fast. "Maybe I can escape by jumping in the water-hole," he
said. But when he looked down and saw his own reflection shivering on the pool's
surface, he stopped in his tracks. Already Kali had spotted him.
"Come inside, Hare!" roared the lion. "I can't wait to eat the
only one who didn't vote for me."
But Hare didn't move. He felt braver now and he called back, "But
Majesty," he wheedled. "I am very confused. I can see two kings.
Please tell me, which of you is to eat me?"
"TWO KINGS!" snapped Kali angrily. "What do you mean two
kings?" In one bound he was breathing down on Hare.
"Well, there's you Majesty," stammered Hare, "and there's that
other one down there." Hare pointed down into the water-hole.
Kali looked and Kali saw. What - another lion?
"I'll have no rivals!" cried the cruel one, and at once he leaped on
the other lion. Down into the pool sank Kali as he tried to grab his enemy. Soon
the waters closed over him, and he was gone.
"You've killed our king," said Tembo the elephant in amazement.
"No I didn't," said Hare. "Anyone could see that he jumped into
the water-hole all by himself. Besides, you didn't think I was going to stand
here and be eaten did you? That would be as foolish as choosing a bully for a
king!" And with that he ran away, before anyone else could think of eating
him.
"Whew! That WAS a close shave," said Hare from the safety of his
baobab tree. "But I'll bet those silly animals will send old rhino round to
ask ME to be the king. Some people never learn."
And so it happened. Just as Hare was dropping off to sleep, there was a boom,
boom, booming across the plains. "Oh no!" he sighed. "Why am
I always right?" He flattened his ears, closed his eyes tighter and
pretended to snore. "Anyone can see I'm much too busy to be king. Much,
much too busy..."