ROD PUPPETS: Connecting the rod to a moving part.

The above photo shows three rod puppets. They each have a central rod connected permanently to the head (the necklace hides this). At the base of the chest piece is a "stop" which is permanently attached to the rod as well. That way the puppet head can turn freely from one side to  another, and the chest piece will not fall down. This is basically how Indonesian rod puppets are made.

Hand rods are very important, since the hand needs to move in different ways. One method of connecting the rod to the hand is to have an internal joint, deep inside the outside edge of the hand. Another method is to tie a string thru a hole in the hand and connect the string to the rod. Indonesian rod puppet hands are often connected in this way.

Another method is to made a wire loop that is part of the hand, and connect the rod to the loop. If you use a special "connecting rod clip" (available at auto supply stores), you will also be able to take the rod off the hand. This helps a  lot for costuming and the puppets. I can't take credit for this innovation. Tony Petzold developed it while working on "H.M.S. Pinafore" for Mr. Ballard at the University of Connecticut.

Here are some close ups of a connecting rod clip and how it connects to a puppet:

What you don't really see in the photos above is the wire loop that the clip end surrounds. It is the pivet point for the joint, and the rod can move all around it!

This dinosaur is pictured here without his rods. His neck rod is attached by the method shown above. His body rod is also removeable, and is attached by a simpler method which depends upon friction. Can you guess what it is? Maybe you can come up with your own method of attaching rods to rod puppets!

Third grade students from the University of Hartford's Magnet Elementary school enjoyed making and performing rod puppets! To see their process, click here.