Banana for Turtle October 30, 2010

“Banana for Turtle” is a set of vignettes that involve five animal friends—Monkey, Python, Parrot, Elephant and Turtle. Created in the style of classical marionette, performance speaks humorously to issues of early childhood.

Visual perspectives of the world, confusion over obtuse language terms, means of measuring, social interactions that require polite behavior, physical activity and of course most important learning about the identity of self are concepts that children in preschool to early grades address regularly in their daily lives.

These five animals bring these problems to life in a gentle, engaging puppet drama. Pre-activities to watching the puppet show involves discussion of moments when students have been confused by language or when a new concept became clear to them. Activities such as identifying individual personal characteristics would lead children to recognize their own individuality—just as each character in the story has his or her own personality. Follow up activities include creating a simple puppet show by children that addresses the problems that they have confronted and solved themselves.