Center for Puppetry Arts

Thursday morning, we got up at the crack of dawn to join some homeschooling friends for a field trip to the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta.  Now, if you’re a local (or if you’re not and you’re ever in Atlanta), then I suggest you make a trip to the Center.  This was such a fun and exciting field trip for the kiddos.
Our morning started off by us picking up our friends, Naomi, Ashton, and Ariana.  Then we made our way to the Center to meet up with our other friends.  Once we were all together, we were able to enjoy a puppetry workshop.  The children (and the adults) made a “Blue Ox” puppet.  The puppetry workshop was very well-organized, and the staff did a super job of engaging everyone.  Once we had all made our puppets, the children got to do a simple performance with their newly made Blue Ox.  It was so cute to see them using their imagination.  They were super creative.
After the workshop, we were able to enjoy a quick snack in the lunchroom.  Then, we were off to see the performance.  We watched “Paul Bunyan & The Tall Tale Medicine Show”, and it was a very cute show.  They used a variety of puppets to perform the show, and the children seemed to have a wonderful time during the performance. 
Once the show was over, we toured the center to see more puppets.  Then we went to eat lunch at The Varsity.  Now, you locals all know how famous it is.  However, for the non-locals, it’s been featured on The Food Network, and it’s a HUGE diner.  While I enjoy the food, I don’t think it’s the best diner food by any means.  I much prefer the food at Monroe’s in Americus, but that’s another story.
We had a long and exhausting day, but it was totally worth it.  I foresee many more trips to the Center for Puppetry Arts in our future.  They’ve got some wonderful shows planned for the 2010-2011 season, and I hope we’re able to enjoy several of them.
Here are some pictures from the day…

Ariana, Ashton, and Caleb on the “Pinocchio” foot (we weren’t allowed to use the flash for this picture).Ariana, Ashton, and Caleb in front of Babe, the Blue Ox Caleb and Ashton listening to the staff member talk about puppets Caleb and Ashton goofing offThese two boys are sooo silly together  Caleb finishing up his puppet Caleb with his Blue Ox

Caleb and Ashton show off their puppetsCaleb waiting for his turn to perform Caleb and the other boys in our group doing their own puppet show This is the Blue Ox that I created.  Even the adults were able to create a puppet…fun, huh? Caleb and Ashton enjoying a snack

Ariana, Naomi, Ashton, me, and Caleb in front of The Varsity