Interactive Puppet Shows & Creative Workshops in the Kootenays
🪐 Puppets On The Move
Puppets On The Move is a traveling puppet theatre bringing storytelling, games, and hands-on puppet creation to festivals, schools, birthday parties, and community events.
Through imaginative characters, movement, and audience participation, we create playful experiences that inspire creativity, teamwork, and joy for all ages.
Perfect For
• Schools and classrooms
• Festivals and community events
• Birthday parties
• Libraries and summer camps
• Team-building workshops
Based in the Kootenays, British Columbia.
Serving Nelson, Castlegar, Kaslo, Slocan Valley, and surrounding communities.
🎪 What We Offer:
🎭 Puppet Shows
45 minute interactive performance
Storytelling, music and puppetry
Perfect for festivals, libraries, and schools
🧵 Build-A-Puppet Workshops
Kids create their own puppet
Story creation and performance
Great for classrooms and camps
🌟 Black Light Puppet Show
Glow puppets and magical storytelling
Ideal for evening events and festivals
🎲 Spin the Wheel Puppet Game Show
Interactive theatre games
Puppets, prizes and improvisation
A lively group of children enjoying a puppet show with excitement and joy at a summer festival.
🎉 Birthday & Private Party Packages
Bring puppets, monsters, and magic to your celebration!
🌈 Little Sprouts Show — $150
• 45-minute interactive puppet show
• Spin-the-Wheel story adventure with Sasquetti
• Meet-the-puppets moment
🎭 Story Adventure Party — $222
• 45-minute interactive puppet show
• Spin-the-Wheel story themes chosen by the kids
• Puppet playtime with children
• Birthday child gets a special helper role
✨ Puppet Magic Workshop — $333
• Interactive puppet show
• Spin-the-Wheel storytelling and participation games
• Puppet play & creative storytelling activities
• Kids help create a story together
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.
Coming soon hopefully 🤞⬇️
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
Spin-The-Wheel Puppet Game Show
Creative, participatory storytelling with prizes and improv games.
Check us out on Instagram and Facebook!!
Here at ‘Puppets on the move’ we offer many forms of entertainment; Fun workshops, Black Light Puppet shows, Crankie box story time, table top puppetry, as well as interactive games and live offerings of all sorts of silly things. We are very adaptable and enjoy being creative and trying new things.
We offer programs and workshops for children as well as adults with the intention to draw the players into self awareness, connection to a deeper form of creativity and exposure to culturally rich stories. Life skills are an integral part of our learning. We focus on inclusion, co-operation, personal and social responsibility and creative thinking. Participants in workshops have opportunities to build puppets, create stories and perform for friends and family.
What you can count on by using ‘PUPPETS ON THE MOVE’?
- Fun, Movement, Dance
- Creative Play
- Imagination
- Building Community
- Team Building
- Story Telling
- Education
- Build-A-Puppet
- Bridging the Gap between Old and Young
Our Signature Puppet Shows
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 Sinixt 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.
We also design specific themed shows, improv nights, parties, events and school programs. Get in touch to discuss your ideas.
“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
This is a 30-minute interactive program where you’ll explore a theme, build a puppet, and help act out a story.
Popular choices of puppet making themes:
- Make n bake Glow puppet figurines (will need access to an oven)
- Lively Glow stick/shadow puppets (will need tables and glue)
- Black Light 2D Animation Workshop
- Arm and Rod / Soft Body Puppets and Story Telling
- Toy Theatre Workshop with Fairy and Gnome Sculpting
- Crankie Box Story with Stick Puppets
- Puppet Animation Camp/Community Performance
Get in touch with me to discuss your theme and ideas for your puppet making workshop.
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
Intensive Workshops
Our intensive workshop uses puppet animation with your friends, fellow students, or fellow comrades in your workforce to build a better team. Puppets are NOT just for children at all!
We use ready-made puppets rather than making our own. I have numerous different stages and theaters to choose from that will help us explore, create & play.
The workshop is typically 60 minutes long and includes:
- Ice Breaker and Animation Games
- Collaboration Stories
- Crankie Box Demo and Play
- Live Performance
Travel along this journey of creativity with me! Get in touch with your questions, theme selections, or ideas for a customized puppet workshop.
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. MOVE WITH NIKKI offers you a complete program suited to your needs by making puppets, stories, plays and creating a whole new element of FUN AND SILLINESS. Fabulous memories, building up your team and going into places you might not go without puppets is exactly what will happen!
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 