Interactive Puppet Shows & Creative Workshops in the Kootenays
🪐 Play • Creativity • Storytelling • Community
Puppets On The Move is a traveling puppet theatre and creative workshop experience based in the Kootenays of British Columbia.
Puppetry is about so much more than making a puppet.
It’s about giving children, adults and communities a chance to play, imagine, create, move, connect and tell stories together.
For the past 7 years, my partner and I have been bringing the Puppets On The Move KidZone to Rise Wellness Fest, creating playful spaces where kids and families can explore creativity, movement, puppets and imagination.
We also love bringing our puppets into festivals, schools, community events, birthday parties and gatherings of all kinds.
Offerings:
🎭 Interactive Puppet Shows
🧵 Build-A-Puppet Workshops
✨ Black-Light Puppetry
🎲 Interactive Puppet Games & Storytelling
🌈 Creative Community Workshops
👧 KidZones & Festival Programming
🎪 Custom puppet experiences for your event Schools and classrooms
Based in the Kootenays, British Columbia.
Serving Nelson, Castlegar, Kaslo, Slocan Valley, and surrounding communities.
A little piece of my heart
I’m Nikkicole — a mama of four, a puppeteer, movement facilitator, Kundalini yoga teacher and lifelong creative explorer living in Winlaw, BC.
Puppetry has become one of the places where all of those parts of me meet.
I love creating spaces where people can loosen up, get silly, try something new and remember that creativity belongs to everyone.
My partner and I recently celebrated our Puppets On The Move journey together that began in August of 2019, shortly after my Sandglass Theatre intensive puppet training in Vermont. He is now called the unforgettable Monster Papa.
And yes… the puppets keep multiplying. 🪐😂
A lively group of children enjoying a puppet show with excitement and joy at a summer festival.
🎉 Birthday & Private Party Packages (local rates)
Bring puppets, monsters, and magic to your celebration!
🌈 Little Sprouts Show — $200
• 20-minute interactive puppet show
• Spin-the-Wheel story adventure with Sasquetti
• Meet-the-puppets moment
🎭 Story Adventure Party — $275
• 45-minute interactive puppet show
• Spin-the-Wheel story themes chosen by the kids
• Puppet playtime with children
• Birthday child gets a special puppet memory
✨ Puppet Magic Workshop — $333
• Interactive puppet show (Stories chosen with themes or requests)
• Spin-the-Wheel storytelling and participation games
• Puppet play & creative storytelling activities
• build-a-puppet and create a story on crankie scroll
Booking Info: $50 non-refundable deposit secures your date. Just tell us the package and preferred start time, and we’ll send a short booking form.
🎭 Current Adventures
Sasquetti and the Missing Yeti
A playful mountain mystery where the audience helps Sasquetti solve the case! Family Day in Kaslo and beyond.
The Last Kootenay Mermaid
A black-light puppet performance exploring magical rivers and hidden worlds.
Spin-The-Wheel Puppet Game Show
Creative, participatory storytelling with prizes and improv games.
In progress: Earth Secrets: A Puppet Musical
A large-scale collaborative puppet project combining music, story, and spectacle.
More stories and shows are always in the works — the intergalactic bus is never empty!
The last Kootenay Mermaid
A black-light puppet performance exploring magical rivers and hidden worlds
The story of the missing Kootenay Mermaid was featured at festivals and events in Summer 2024
Check us out on Instagram and Facebook!!
Thank you to CKCA and CBT grants for the opportunity to produce and tour, The Last Kootenay Mermaid/ Kootenay Puppet Tour.
Our puppet shows are a ready-made presentation of approximately 45 minutes with an additional 30 minutes for setup and take down.
We currently have two signature shows to offer:
Aldreama the Magnificent. This is an outdoor or indoor medieval play that incorporates small little stories to lead Aldreama to her magnificence with the power of her audience and friends along the way.
The Last Kootenay Mermaid. This is a black light puppet piece about a young female character who hears from her Ancient Elders, teachers and forest creatures leading her to make a big change for herself and the tribe she lives with. This story is adapted from inspirational stories of our Traditional Sinixt First Nations and local Kootenay Indigenous cultures.
The Themed Picked Puppet Show. This is part improv and part pre planned by the Booker. Choosing a theme like “Forest” and three well known stories like “Billy’s Goats Gruff” + “The Three Kittens” + Little Red Riding Hood. We invite volunteers to come and puppet main characters along the way with twists, actions and laughter for a most enjoyable and unforgettable experience.
Bring Puppets On The Move To Your Community
Whether you’re planning a festival, birthday party or creative community gathering. let’s dream something up together.
“You are an AMAZING puppeteer. Your characters, voices and synchronization are superb. The black light concept was very interesting.”
Parent after seeing “The Last Kootenay Mermaid”
Build a Puppet Workshop Options:
This is a 60-minute interactive program where you’ll explore a theme, build a puppet, and help act out a story.
- Sock Puppets with arm rods
- Make n bake puppet faces or small miniatures
- Lively Glow stick/shadow puppets with Crankie Scroll and black light magic
- Arm and Rod / Soft Body Puppets
- Toy Theatre Workshop with Fairy and Gnome Sculpting
- Puppet Animation Camp/Community Performance
ANIMATION CAMP/ COMMUNITY PERFORMANCE
“The kids had a blast at your workshop, and they’re excited about starting another one.”
Teacher after booking a Build A Puppet workshop for her class
Zoom Classes
“You are so talented, thank you for the show”
Parent after hiring us for a birthday party
Why ‘Puppets On the Move’?
Make the best out of your life by investing in ‘Puppets on the Move’. Puppet play will enhance your family, school and community. Movewithnikki offers you a complete program suited to your needs by making puppets, stories and embobied movement by creating a whole new element of joy and wellness.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this just for kids?
Absolutely not! You can use our puppet building workshop for adults, too. It is a great exercise for team building, creative thinking, and connecting with our inner artists. Adults don’t have to build puppets, either. I can bring a selection of ready-made puppets that we can use as part of the story building games.
How many kids/adults can participate?
A typical show or workshop is up to 12 participants. Contact us for larger group requests.
Move with Nikki 