Christian children’s ministries are able to make excellent use of puppets to entertain children while educating them as well. There are plenty of challenges that children’s ministry workers will face on a constant basis, and using puppets in this way can help to meet the many of the challenges and come out successful.

In this article you will see some very valid reasons that you should consider using puppets in your own ministry. We will point out some specifics of how they can help you and the children as well.

Fun

While ministering to the children and teaching them is much more important than having fun, teaching them in a way that allows them to have fun will be a tremendous help in terms of creating an effective ministry.

Children’s ministry leaders appreciate the use of puppets because they make it more effective to convey a message to a child, but kids pay more attention to the fact that they are having fun during a puppet presentation. They will still be learning, but their emphasis is usually on the entertainment. If you can create a fun and educational environment the kids will respond accordingly.

Educational

While puppet shows are fun for the kids, what is equally important is that they are an excellent way to present an educational message to the kids in a format that will allow them to learn and grow.

Retained Messages

If you minister to children you are not only concerned with teaching and educating them, but you also want those lessons to last and to be remembered by them in the future as they grow. Puppets often create lasting impressions.

Gets People Involved

Getting people involved is necessary for most types of ministries. With a puppet ministry you will need several volunteers, which can be a challenge, but it is also a great way to get many different people involved in the children’s ministry.

Many churches use teenagers to get involved with puppet ministries and this is a great way to get them involved with the younger kids. Puppet ministries in general are helpful for bringing people in the church together and getting everyone working together for the good of the children.

Versatile

Puppet ministries are great because they can be used in so many different situations and settings. They can be used at summer camps, Vacation Bible School, Sunday School, day cares, and just about anywhere else that children’s ministries will gather.

Financial Investment is not Necessary

One of the barriers in many ministries is related to money and expenses. However, you can start and run a puppet ministry with very little money needed if you are willing to be creative and make the puppets and props from items that you have around the house or the office.

If you want to spend some money for higher quality resources, that is always an option, but it is not necessary to get started.

Plenty of Scripts

If you have been hesitating to start a puppet ministry because you have no idea how you would write scripts or skits, don’t worry, there are plenty available. You can easily buy inexpensive scripts and books of skits, or you can find some that are freely available for your use.

You can find a book of 15 scripts from CCES that is available for purchase online. There are also four free scripts that you can download at their site for use in your own ministry -Puppet Scripts

Etched deep into my memory is the first day I watched a ventriloquist performance. I was 9 years old, and I was amazed by how the performer could sit there, without moving his lips and no expression on his face.. yet the dummy sitting on his knee was talking away, cracking joke after joke. After that performance, at a schoolmate’s birthday party, I knew that someday I would want to learn to be a ventriloquist.

My parents didn’t think I was too serious about it, but they got me my first ventriloquist doll that Christmas anyway. I practiced as much as I could for the next couple of years but I couldn’t get the hang of talking without moving my lips a little bit. I performed for my sister who would always shout, “Your mouth moved!” all the time. After some time, I became very frustrated and I just gave up.

Fourteen years later, I saw my next ventriloquist performance. It was ad a comedy club, with a very funny and vulgar dummy. It reminded me of how I used to sit in front of the mirror and my family on so many nights, trying to perfect my dream. That night, I decided I was going back to my dream, and this time I won’t give up.

I’m sure that many of you are in the same boat. You saw a performance and were immediately drawn to it. Don’t just dream about it! Why not get involved and learn how to be a ventriloquist? There are really a few things to learn, but you must be dedicated and disciplined about it.

Like any skill, you must practice and keep a schedule. Becoming a good ventriloquist will not occur overnight, so you have to be determined and keep at it until you have perfected it. Use the mirror, family or friends as your audience. Set up rehearsals, so that you can stay on top of your dialogues.

The trick is to learn different ways of pronouncing certain words without being detected by the audience. Some letters or sounds cannot be pronounced without moving your mouth, so you have to pronounce them differently, so that they sound very similar, yet you can keep you mouth unmoved. This is the art of the illusion of ventriloquism.

You should first master the art of throwing your voice, before you use a puppet. Using a ventriloquist dummy takes some focus away from your voice distortion. After mastering the voice technique, you can afford to lose some attention to the puppet. Trying to do this all at once may just leave you frustrated.

If you are indeed looking to learn how to become a ventriloquist, then you must first educate yourself on how to perform the illusion of “throwing your voice”. It is very likely to be difficult at first, but with practice and a lot of patience, you can soon learn the basic. Then as you learn more advanced techniques, you will become the master of the illusion. Below are a few tips to remember for a beginner learning ventriloquism.

Always keep trying. From experience, I can tell you that it will take a period of time before you can perform ventriloquism perfectly. You cannot expect to master how to manipulate your voice overnight. It is important to know that you will need to practice and practice and practice, then you’ll be well on your way to getting the hang of it.

Enroll for ventriloquism lessons from a professional. If you wish to learn ventriloquism, this will help you immensely. A professional ventriloquist can advise you better than anyone else, since he has been through it all before. This is especially true if the professional is also self-taught. From this, you can be sure that they have been through all the problems before and they know the tips and tricks to learning how to do it correctly. Learning from their experiences will help decrease any errors in learning on your part.

Focus on the craft before buying your first dummy. It is common belief that you should start learning ventriloquism with a doll, but this is simply not true. It may be too much for a beginner to learn to manipulate his voice as well as working with the puppet simultaneously. The art should be taken slowly, and a beginner should master the voice before moving on to the puppet.

Don’t get frustrated and take it too seriously. You should take ventriloquism as a hobby and something that you truly enjoy. If you feel you are getting upset because there is something you simply can’t get, let practice for the day be over. Continuing practice in that frustrate state will do you no good, and just make you want to quit, putting to waste all your hard effort.

Learning to be a ventriloquist can take a while, so do not be surprised if you haven’t been able to perfect it within the first week. Just keep going, and you will soon be a master of ventriloquism. Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day, so you should expect that practice and diligence is what will get you paid.

Jeff Dunham, fast becoming one of the most popular standup comedians in the world, is getting a little help from some of his friends. The thing is that none of his friends are human. His friends are a dead terrorist, a grouchy old man, a redneck NASCAR nut and a Woozle, just to name a few. Jeff Dunham is one of the best ventriloquists of all time and all of his partners are puppets.

He was an only child, so he was inclined to invent imaginary friends to help pass his time and overcome his shyness. He then got into ventriloquism and began to teach himself the art. His first puppet was an old-fashioned Mortimer Snerd dummy. Initially, he used his skills to deliver his oral report to his third grade class and by they time he reached college, at Baylor University, he was spending weekends entertaining a paying audience.

In 1988, he moved to Los Angeles where he honed his skills at an array of comedy venues like the Improv, the Comedy, Magic Club and others. His hard work finally paid off when he appeared on the “Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson in April of 1990. From then on, he had achieved critical acclaim from around the world. He was even named “Funniest Male Stand-up Comic” at the American Comedy Awards, placing him in the same class as Jerry Seinfeld, Jeff Foxworthy and Robin Williams.

Apart from his irresistibly funny material, the main reason so many people love his act is because it is so believable. This master ventriloquist and comedian makes us believe that his puppets are human. Each portray such individual behavior that you are tricked into believing that they are alive, complete with personality and heart.

One of Jeff’s pals is Walter, a grumpy old man who doesn’t hold back his opinions. His facial characteristics are perfectly crafted to portray his permanently disgruntled personality.

Peanut is another of Dunham’s friends, who is a Woozle, a fictional character first mentioned in Winnie the Pooh. Peanut has a special construction and he moves differently compared to most puppets. He looks different too, with a spike of green hair, purple skin, yellow fur and only one shoe.

And who can ever forget Bubba J, a beer downing NASCAR nut, or Jose Jalapeno, a talking Jalapeno pepper on a stick, or even Achmed, the dead terrorist. All of Dunham’s puppets collectively create a cast of unforgettable characters that will leave you doubling over in laughter.

Jeff Dunham has made several appearances on TV, including award winning comedy specials. He has also sold millions of DVDs and entertained audiences around the world. Now you can see this comedy guru in person. His tour is coming to a city near you. Buy your tickets and be prepared to laugh the night away.