Professor Bart Roccoberton, head of the University of Connecticut's Puppet Arts Training Programme, takes time out of a tour of Hong Kong this week to teach 10-year-old Jasmine Shum Sze-Ching how to tell a story with shadow puppets.
Puppets can go beyond child's play and be used to help children read, count and learn subjects like maths, English and history, said the professor, who conducts workshops in schools and colleges and is a leading advocate of puppet arts in the United States. Puppets improve creative thinking, he said, for example conveying stories about mammals for a science class. Professor Roccoberton will be performing today and tomorrow at City Hall at 2.30pm and 7.30pm. He will also give a seminar entitled Puppetry: A Dynamic Classroom Tool at 6.30pm on Monday in Room 1201, School of Continuing Education, Hong Kong Baptist University.
