GReeN FooLS
SCHOOL WORKSHOPS
Enrich your curriculum with the magic of circus, theatre, and visual arts
Green Fools School Workshops support the intent of the Alberta Programs of Study through active, creative, and collaborative learning experiences.
Our programs align with the Physical Education & Wellness, Drama, and Visual Arts curriculum, reinforcing classroom learning while supporting student well-being, confidence, and connection. Through circus, physical theatre, puppetry, and visual arts, students build teamwork, communication, problem-solving skills, and creative expression.
Workshops integrate naturally into existing class times and are adaptable by grade level, making them suitable for individual classrooms or entire schools.
Bring curriculum to life and book a workshop for your school today!
PHYSICAL EDUCATION & WELLNESS –
CIRCUS WORKSHOPS
CIRCUS WORKSHOPS
Inspiring imagination and creative confidence
Circus workshops use collaborative, non-competitive activities to help students build physical literacy, set goals, and work together in a fun and supportive environment.
Students explore skills such as juggling, diabolo, flower sticks, poi, plate spinning, tight wire, slack line, rola bola, crazy legs stilts, rolling barrels, and yo-yo.
Circus workshops are designed for whole-school programs and are suitable for Grades K–12.
Private School Option: Private schools receive access to our full range of circus training, including strap-in stilts, walking barrels, unicycle, and aerial skills.
Grades: K–12
_edited_edited.jpg)
VISUAL ARTS – COLLABORATIVE PUPPET & LANTERN WORKSHOPS
COLLABORATIVE PUPPET WORKSHOPS
Inspiring imagination and creative confidence
Students expand their creativity through hands-on, collaborative puppet making. These immersive projects encourage imagination, teamwork, and creative problem-solving in a supportive studio environment.
Workshops are intentionally tactile and messy. Students with tactile sensitivities can participate as helpers, designers, or collaborators, ensuring all learners are meaningfully included. Using simple materials and tools, students create flat-back papier-mâché, 3D relief puppets that reflect their ideas and creativity.
Grades: 2–6
LANTERN WORKSHOPS
Illuminating ideas through design, light, and form
If you are looking for a visually striking project that older students can engage with meaningfully, our Lantern Workshops offer an advanced, hands-on visual arts experience. Projects can be completed collaboratively as a group or individually, depending on class goals and time.
Students work with LED lights, bamboo reed, and rice paper to design and construct stationary lanterns for display or handheld lanterns ideal for parades, performances, or school events. The process emphasizes planning, craftsmanship, problem-solving, and creative expression.
Grades: 5–12
VISUAL ARTS – PUPPET WORKSHOPS
PUPPET TV WORKSHOP
BEGINNER
Bringing stories to life through puppetry and film
Puppet TV Workshops invite students to collaboratively design, build, and film a miniature puppet world. Working together as designers and storytellers, students create a short video inspired by a classroom theme or topic.
In the beginner workshop, students focus on simple visual storytelling. They collaboratively design a 2-D diorama set and create finger puppets that may be 2-D or 3-D. Once the set and puppets are complete, students film a short video that can be shared with classmates, families, and the school community.
Grades: 1–5
PUPPETS TV WORKSHOP
ADVANCED
Transforming stories into visual theatre
In the Advanced Puppet TV Workshop, students expand the project through more complex set and puppet design while taking on production roles to support a filmed performance.
Working collaboratively, students design and build a detailed miniature world and puppets, then plan and film a short video.
This workshop emphasizes creative leadership, collaboration, and the integration of visual art, storytelling, and performance for the screen, with opportunities for cross-department collaboration in lighting, sound, and editing.
Grades: 6–12
SOCK PUPPET
WORKSHOPS
Designing characters through play, storytelling, and visual arts
Students bring their imagination to life as they design, decorate, and animate their own sock puppets in a playful, supportive environment. Through hands-on making and storytelling, students build confidence, fine motor skills, and creative expression.
Each student finishes with a puppet they can proudly animate and take home. Classes may also choose to create a short puppet show to share with classmates.
Grades: K–3
MUPPET STYLE PUPPET
WORKSHOPS
Building character through design, craftsmanship, and performance
Students gain hands-on experience designing and constructing durable Muppet-style puppets using foam or cardboard. Through guided making, students develop focus, patience, craftsmanship, and listening skills while blending technical construction with artistic imagination.
Each student finishes the workshop with a completed puppet suitable for performance and storytelling.
Grades: 7–9
MUPPET STYLE PUPPET
WORKSHOPS ADVANCED
Advanced construction, sewing, and expressive character design
This extended workshop is designed for high school students seeking a deeper technical and creative challenge.
Students learn to read and interpret patterns, sew by hand, and problem-solve complex construction challenges while designing highly expressive, performance-ready puppets.
The emphasis is on planning, refinement, and independent creative decision-making.
Grades: 10–12
SHADOW PUPPET
WORKSHOPS
Making stories come to life
Students design and create individual shadow puppets and the world they live in. They explore how light and movement bring stories to life.
If you have a topic you are working on with your class, we can help create a short show highlighting that theme, that your class can present with their puppets.
Grades: 4–12
MARIONETTE PUPPET
WORKSHOPS BEGINNER
Making stories come to life
Students construct their own marionette puppets and explore how simple movement and play create expressive characters. By the end of the workshop, each student has a working puppet and the foundational skills to animate it, offering a hands-on introduction to both craftsmanship and puppet manipulation.
The simple walking bird marionette is ideal for
Grades 1–5.
Grades: 1–5
MARIONETTE PUPPET
WORKSHOPS INTERMEDIATE
Exploring puppet control, balance and play
Students design and build their own soft marionettes using foam, cotton twill, and wire, exploring how structure and movement create expressive characters.
Through hands-on construction and play, students learn the fundamentals of marionette balance, control, and animation.
Grades: 6–9 (adaptable for 10–12)
VISUAL ARTS – MASK WORKSHOPS
MASK MAKING – FOUND OBJECTS WORKSHOPS
BEGINNER
Exploring meaning through reclaimed materials
In this beginner Mask-Making Workshop, students create masks using objects found at home and in their recycling bins. We can work within themes you may be covering in class, such as animals and conservation, technology, or storytelling. No matter the subject matter, we can find a mask to fit.
Students stretch their creative muscles by searching for interesting shapes, textures, and materials, learning how everyday objects can be transformed into expressive artworks.
Grades: 4–6
MASK MAKING – FOUND OBJECTS WORKSHOPS
ADVANCED
Exploring meaning through reclaimed materials
In this advanced Found Objects Mask-making Workshop, students arrive with a concept and materials that have interest or meaning to them. This project encourages students to question ideas of beauty and value, exploring how discarded or natural materials can be transformed into something expressive and meaningful.
Students design masks that reflect personal ideas, themes, or narratives while developing problem-solving skills and creative confidence.
Grades: 7–12
MASK MAKING WORKSHOPS
INTERMEDIATE
Making the fantastical a reality
Masks are a powerful tool for visual art and drama. In this intermediate workshop, students build a basic face-form using paper and tape, which becomes the foundation for a papier-mâché mask. From this structure, students explore surface design, proportion, and expression.
Any theme may be explored, and finished masks can be used for performance, display, or as part of a drama or visual arts project.
Grades: 7–9
MASK MAKING – SCULPTED MASK WORKSHOPS
ADVANCED
Where students learn to transform ideas into reality
This advanced Mask-Making Workshop is designed for senior and advanced art students interested in sculptural processes and refined craftsmanship.
Students sculpt a mask base in clay and build up the final form using papier-mâché, exploring character, form, and expressive surface design.
The process emphasizes precision, patience, and creative problem-solving. Each student finishes with a completed sculpted mask suitable for display or performance.
Grades: 10–12
MASK MAKING & FACE CASTING WORKSHOPS
ADVANCED
Challenging comfort zones to achieve creative excellence
This advanced workshop introduces students to face casting and custom mask construction. Students create a plaster of their face, and then create a custom-fitted mask that explores identity, form, and transformation.
The casting process is completed with a partner using plaster bandages and Vaseline. Some students may not want to participate in this portion of the process, instead they may assisting a partner with the bandage and casting process.
Grades: 10–12
THEATRE & DRAMA – PUPPET WORKSHOPS
PUPPET MANIPULATION
WORKSHOPS
BEGINNER
Puppetry basics: movement, focus & storytelling
This one-day workshop introduces students to the fundamentals of puppetry. Students explore a variety of puppet styles and focus on how movement, focus, and intention help a puppet come alive.
Through guided play and simple storytelling, students develop hand-eye coordination, expressive movement, and an understanding of how puppets communicate character and story. This workshop offers an engaging entry point into performance and dramatic expression.
Grades: K–6
PUPPET MANIPULATION
FOR TV WORKSHOPS
Puppet manipulation for screen: performance & film
In this advanced workshop, students combine professional puppet manipulation with on-camera performance. Using puppets created for Green Fools theatre productions, students learn how to operate complex puppets and bring them to life through movement, focus, and coordination.
Once foundational manipulation skills are established, the class collaboratively develops a storyline and performs it for camera, creating a short film. This workshop emphasizes precision, teamwork, and performance awareness for the screen and is well suited to classes with an interest in audiovisual or media-supported performance.
Grades: 7–12
THEATRE & DRAMA – MASK, CLOWN & MIME WORKSHOPS
MASK WORKSHOPS
Exploring identity and character through movement
Students will learn the art of neutral masks, half and full-face character masks and Commedia Dell Art masks.
-
Neutral masks focus on centering oneself emotionally and physicality in order to express authentic emotional honesty.
-
Character masks focus on character development through breath-work and physical movement exploration.
-
Commedia masks focus on exploring status and physicality through traditional archetypes.
Each style unlocks new forms of creative expression, and students learn to embody roles in bold and expressive ways.
Grades: 7–12
CLOWN WORKSHOPS
Unlocking joy, resilience, and bravery
Students will learn European-style clowning techniques like physical comedy, improvisation, slapstick and notions of high and low status. Clowning teaches students to embrace vulnerability, build confidence, and connect authentically with peers.
This class is very versatile and can be customized to every grade level. K-6 get to be silly, play and have fun, 7-9 start to understand what being in drama is all about and high school students can dig deep.
Grades: K–12
MIME WORKSHOPS
The art of storytelling without words
Students will be introduced to the art of silent or physical storytelling through movement based exercises and techniques.
Using Corporeal Mime Techniques, students will learn illusion based mime such as the wall and rope
pull, while becoming more aware of the body as it moves through a physical space.
Grades: K–12
MURAL WORKSHOPS – WITH DEAN STANTON
MURAL WORKSHOPS
Celebrating community through collaborative art
Led by renowned Calgary-based painter Dean Stanton, mural residencies invite students to design and paint large-scale works that leave a lasting legacy in your school.
Projects can be adapted to fit the size, vision, and budget of each school – from small indoor murals to expansive outdoor installations.
Grades: K–12
