Potpourri Extension Homemakers Mary Ethel Prather and Dorothy Kirmse work on the "K" for king and "J" for jam puppets, part of the 858 puppets EH members created for 33 child care centers in Western North Carolina.Extension Homemaker Arbra Gibson demonstrates two of her personal favorite alphabet hand puppets - "B" for bear and "D" for dog.Just in time for the bewitching season, Extension Homemaker Mary Knight demonstrates "W" for witch. |
What do you get when you put 65 Extension Homemakers together with more than 100 yards of felt and the letters of the alphabet?
In Jackson County you get 33 sets of alphabet puppets - A to Z - destined for 33 child care centers in Western North Carolina. In 1997, Sheila Hoyle and Cindy Walker with Southwestern Child Development Commission approached the Extension Homemakers in the far western counties with the idea of making a set of alphabet puppets for each of their centers from Haywood to Cherokee counties. Jackson, Clay and Macon Extension Homemakers responded, and the project began in earnest in 1998. Some 850 puppets were created, with Jackson County Extension Homemakers making more than 528 of them. "It was a labor of love," said Arbra Gibson, who made especially cute brown bears for the letter "B" and black and white dogs for "D." Each Extension group in the county "adopted" one or more letters to make with some individual Homemakers making complete letters on their own. Examples include a unicorn for "U", a yak for "Y", a king for "K" and 23 other fun designs to help children learn the letters of the alphabet. The puppets will be used in storytelling and reading activities, seasonal celebrations, and other creative ways to enhance the learning that already takes place at the centers. "These are wonderful teaching tools," said a teacher at the new Webster center. "Itąs something I would have loved to have made but didnąt have the time. And, as expensive as they are, we wouldnąt have had the money to buy them." Extension Homemakers logged some 800 hours on this project, a part of their efforts toward literacy. Other friends who helped complete the project were Jessica Sellers, Amanda Aldridge, Chassie Shelton, Daphne Shelton, Marilyn Hipps and Ellen Riley. For more information about the program, call the Cooperative Extension Service at 586-4009. |
Back to Archive: 10-21-99. |