Kids bring puppets to life

At Kaleidoscope School of Arts and Science on Thursday, student Elladove Walls stood at a table strewn with craft material and constructed a princess, adding bright red yarn as hair and choosing materials to represent a pink dress, earrings and other pretty details.

Walls was participating in a family art night, which brought parents and kids together for the culmination of the school’s artist-in-residence program. During the two-week program, sculptor Shala Dobson worked with students, parents and staff to create an art project. The result was dozens of puppets like those being crafted on Thursday night, displayed in the school’s entrance hallway outside the gym.

Though she now lives in the Matanuska-Susitna region, Dobson said she’s been involved with Kaleidoscope since before it opened, when Sears Elementary occupied the same building. She helped with writing the charter school’s curriculum and integrating the arts into all the school’s activities.

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Making a puppet requires a similar skill set and thought as sculpting, Dobson said, creating a recognizable figure out of three-dimensional materials and applying ideas and style to make it stand out.

By the time family art night arrived, Dobson said, the students were experts, showing their parents how to construct puppets of their own.

Though each puppet shared a template format — a round head affixed above a wide torso — the subjects were varied with different accessories, hairstyles and other artistic tweaks. The puppets each had a name, like “Lianna”, “Scott”, “Grandpa” or “Dog Man.”

“Children love making puppets,” Dobson said. “Every single one is different.”

For more information, find “Kaleidoscope School of Arts & Science” on Facebook.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.

Puppets created by students are displayed during a family art night hosted by Artist in Residence Shala Dobson at Kaleidoscope School of Arts and Science in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Students and families create puppets during a family art night hosted by Artist in Residence Shala Dobson, center, at Kaleidoscope School of Arts and Science in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Students and families create puppets during a family art night hosted by Artist in Residence Shala Dobson at Kaleidoscope School of Arts and Science in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)