Make a Plywood Puppet

Design, carve and assemble your own decorative puppet in this creative 3-day course.

Key details

Location

Falmouth Campus

Course duration

3 days

Course overview

Explore your creative and practical skills as you create your own unique decorative wooden puppet on this 3-day woodwork and puppet design course.

Based in our wood workshop and taught by our skilled technical team, you’ll learn to work with wood to create a figure, rough out its shape, and then add design and detail.

We’ll show you how to add movement to your puppet and you’ll finish it with gesso and paint layering techniques. We’ll also explore the principles of puppet design and look at what makes a great puppet.

All materials are included in the course, and you’ll leave with your completed puppet.

Tuition fees per individual: £395

How to apply

See course dates below that are available to book.

Upcoming Short Courses

Make a plywood puppet header

Tue 14 Jul 2026

3-day course 14 - 16 Jul | £395

Make a Plywood Puppet July 26

In-person

Design, carve, and assemble your own decorative wooden puppet in this creative 3-day workshop Whe...

Make a Plywood Puppet July 26

If no upcoming Short Courses are displayed above, get in touch with us for more information.

Apart from our Short Courses for 14-17 Year Olds, all of our Short Courses are for adults 18+.

Course details

This is a practical 3-day course where you’ll learn to power-carve through the medium of creating a decorative wooden puppet. We’ll explore this folk art and the principles behind it, updating the traditional methods using modern hand-held power tools as you design, carve, and assemble your own custom wooden puppet.

We’ll be working with plywood as it’s a very accessible material that you can easily buy from hardware shops. It's traditionally not a carving material, however it works well as a material to introduce techniques for using rotary tools to carve and as a great introductory medium to teach these skills with.

You can either create your own completely custom puppet design, or use one of our pre-existing designs and add a face of your own creation. Prior to the course, we’ll ask you which you prefer and give you information to work within if you’d like to create a custom design.

We’ll start by reviewing everyone’s designs and making a plan to bring them to life. We’ll also introduce you to the 3d wood workshop and show you how to work in it safely, including some practical techniques for safe handling of tools.

You’ll then learn all the foundational techniques you’ll need to craft your puppet via a series of practical workshops. Using laminated plywood blanks and a variety of hand-held power tools and hand tools in our wood workshop, and working in a small group under close supervision, you’ll learn to work with wood to create a figure, rough out its shape, and then add design and detail.

We’ll then move on to creating movement, using different jointing methods.

Finally, you’ll add beauty and character to your puppet – finishing it with gesso and paint layering techniques.

Based in our well-equipped 3d wood workshop and including all the materials you’ll need, this course is taught in a small group so you’ll have individual attention whenever needed.

You’ll leave with your puppet to take home and keep – or to continue working on after the course if you wish.

Tea and coffee is provided each day, please bring a packed lunch with you.

Course Leader: Sienna Holihan

How you'll learn

This is a hands-on course where you’ll learn via a series of practical workshops. We’ll teach you all the techniques you need to be able to work with wood so that you can design, carve and assemble your puppet. You’ll be doing this yourself throughout the course, under close supervision.

Who is this course for?

This course is for creative people who would like to be taught to use woodworking machinery and saws. You don’t need any experience but you need to be comfortable and confident to have a go as we teach you!

We’ll be learning to carve and using handheld power tools such as a bandsaw, scroll saw, disc sander, belt sander, Dremel and more.

You might be interested in crafts and would like to explore a new skill, you might just love puppets and want to create your own one, or maybe you’re already a theatre professional or production student wishing to branch out and learn to create puppets for a show.

Each day will have the following timings:

9 Arrival and welcome, tea and coffee 

9.30am – 1pm: Morning session  

1pm – 2pm: Lunch break (please bring a packed lunch) 

2pm – 5pm: Afternoon session 

If you’re creating a puppet of your own design, ensure you bring your idea with you on A3 paper using the template we’ll provide you with before the course.
Ensure you are wearing fully enclosed shoes, no flip-flops or open toes are allowed.
Long hair must be tied back.
Wear clothes that you don’t mind getting messy and note that you must be dressed safely for a workshop environment for this course - jeans and t-shirts with fully enclosed shoes are ideal. If we feel on arrival that your clothes are not suitable for this environment, we‘ll provide you with overalls to change into.
Please remember to bring a packed lunch with you.

All materials you’ll need to create your puppet are provided.

If you don’t want to create your own puppet design, we'll have a small selection of designs ready that you can use.

If you want to create your own design, we’ll send you all the information you’ll need to do this before the course with a scale template for your puppet’s body, arms, head and legs. We’ll ask you to draw the outlines for your puppet on A3 paper within that template, creating whatever kind of creature you’d like within that size parameter. If you need any help doing this before the course we will provide support via email before the course starts.

Tea/coffee is included each day. Please remember to bring a packed lunch with you.

This course is taught in our 3d workshops on our Falmouth Campus.  

Our Falmouth Campus can be reached via a range of public transport options. You can find out more, here.  

For campus maps and information on visiting us, please visit our How to find us page. 

No prior specific experience is required, however this course is suitable for people who have some basic making skills and some competence with crafting.

Please note that we’ll be on our feet for a lot of this course using woodworking tools, doing physical work that can be tiring.

Our Falmouth campus is not fully accessible. Please contact us if you have questions about mobility and access.

How to apply

To apply for this course, make your selection from the available dates below, this will take you to an event page where you will be able to book yourself onto the course via the Book now link.

Tuition fees per individual: £395