| Hi! Here are some details about myself: |
| My name is: |
CYNTHIA A RICE |
| I have a home page at: |
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| My occupation (when I'm not doing puppets!) is: |
Retired teacher |
| My approximate age is: |
60 |
| I live in the state of: |
PA |
| ... in the country of: |
United States |
 |
| Here's some information about my church or puppetry organisation: |
| My organisation's name is: |
Puppet Patch Players |
| My organisation's website is at: |
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| Some of My Puppetry Background |
| Q: Why do you write puppet scripts? What motivates you? |
| I write them for pre-school aged children to teach them to care for the environment, and to care for and understand the world they live in. Most importantly to teach social/life skills to young children in a fun way! |
| Q: Tell us about your church or puppet organisation. |
| Puppet Patch Players (PPP) was a group of people who started at Hershey Gardens Children's Garden, Hershey, PA in 2008 to entertain and educate pre-school aged children about the garden and growing things. It (PPP) coordinated with the programs offered in the Children's Garden, plants and butterflies. |
| Q: How did you get started in puppets and what attracted you to this area? |
| I loved puppets from the time I was 4 years old and got my first one. It was a character from a popular TV show in the USA called "Percy's Place" - a Kiwi bird who had a platypus friend. |
| Q: Where does your inspiration come from to write puppet scripts? |
| Watching children's faces when they see a puppet come to life as a story unfolds. |
| Q: What advice would you give to someone just starting out in puppetry? |
| Use the type of puppets you love the most, in my case hand-held, have fun with them, make them interact with the audience, and have surprise puppets that pop up, works every time! |
| Q: Who are your favourite puppet characters and what do you like about them? |
| I used mostly animal puppets that were animals that we saw in the garden. I had two people puppets, a grandfather and his granddaughter. I loved the interaction between the two people puppets with the "talking" animals. |
| Q: What are the most important qualities in great puppet scripts? |
| Keep them short and concise. Easy dialogue with humor and audience interaction. You need to have action with the puppets for preschoolers or you will lose them. |
| Q: What would you do if you were a puppet? |
| I would make little children laugh and learn things at the same time. I would show them how much fun it is to sing, laugh, and interact with other puppets. |
