A small useful start
Give each child a way to make a character with a job. Let that character do one thing, then build toward a short scene that another willing maker can continue. Keep it simple enough to return to. The child chooses what to keep, change or show.
This optional Foundation Drama fortnight follows actual Weeks13–14 role viewpoints and Weeks15–16 connected scenes/own revision. Puppetry adds a represented character, an actual operator, a scene cue and a negotiated handover of the next moment. It extends those earlier ideas; it is not a renamed bench scene. The principal 40-week map is preserved. Ten days do not cover the whole Foundation Arts standard, all subjects, all jurisdictions or a whole school year.
Ready in a few minutes
Read ten daily scripts. Each gives setup, adult model, question, response when stuck, actual play and next teaching. Suggested 3/4/5/7/4/2-minute parts make a flexible 25-minute start, not a fixed dose. Shorten, split or extend for your group. One small own moment is useful; a polished show is optional.
Use plain large paper, thick drawing tools and familiar approved large objects or puppets. A folded paper character needs no scissors, sticks, glue or purchased kit. Review current group, material, access, supervision and space conditions locally; there is no universal equipment or medical advice here. Offer an uncluttered single field, longer processing time, break, smaller group, usual communication, exact scribing, willing operator or private work as needed for this task. Ask what helps the child; do not allocate a route by diagnosis or a fixed learning style.
Use short learner cards, three switchable routes each day, five original source aids, twenty worked contexts, ten optional home offers and ten extras. Open interpretive examples only after a fresh check has been saved. Home offers are ordinary play; family practice does not substitute for school evidence.
A puppet, a plan and a performance
Name the contribution that actually happened. A child can create a dramatic idea through usual communication, choose a character/job, make a puppet, direct an operator, contribute an actual sign/line/cue, animate a puppet or share an actual work. These may overlap; do not merge them by assumption.
| What you observe | What to record | What it does not establish by itself |
|---|---|---|
| Child draws a character and gives it a job | Child's actual representation and dramatic idea | Performed animation or a completed scene |
| Child gives a helper a scene direction | Child's exact direction; whether tried | Child's own motor operation; adult invention as child's idea |
| Helper constructs or moves the puppet | Named helper action and child's actual choices | Child construction or movement |
| Child contributes a sign, line, cue, turn or other expressive action | Actual contribution, purpose and support | Required pose, voice, gaze or emotional effect |
| Complete original work encountered | All units, reader/operator, response and support | Child performance or an own how/why reason unless offered |
| Invitation written / sent / accepted / declined | Exact stage and actual recipient reply, if any | Silence as consent, depicted crowd as audience |
| Work actually shared with willing recipient | Actual child work, mode, operator, recipient encounter and support | Everyone understanding intended effect, wider uptake or public permission |
A paper plan is not performed puppetry. A still puppet with an actual child expressive cue can be dramatic performance; moving every child's body is not required. A child's direction is useful arts evidence while helper animation remains attributed. Source reasoning cannot establish a real child's motor performance or maker/audience encounter. Record unavailable evidence without turning a pass into a deficit.
Teaching sequence
Days81–84: character/job, two expressive alternatives, place/situation and open next-maker handover. Day85: own fresh first sample before interpretive models; save it, then identify and teach a small need using unrelated ordinary material. Day86: complete original puppet play and own how/why response. Day87: bounded library facts and own place/plan/played distinction. Day88: genuine invitation and optional actual sharing. Day89: child-chosen version and actual targeted practice if appropriate. Day90: only an eligible unseen later sample; otherwise unused first or ordinary supported play, followed by an own next idea.
The Day85/90 envelope allows a short attempt, not forced completion of four questions in one sitting. Break up the complete source and questions without editing their meaning. If a check extends beyond that start, save it and continue appropriately. Do not rush to a time or word count.
Keep stages separate
Ordinary materials contain no check keys or later sources. Staff enter teacher/SELECTION-DESK.md through the separate staff selection in selection.json; no general handout links to that desk. It selects G/H plus four reserve pairs J/K/L/M. Each first/later stage has its own complete source and own four-question blank. Never distribute the technical folder or manifest as a child packet.
For first: record exposure, remove examples/keys/later material, read neutrally, save exact work untouched and label support. Then teach an identified criterion using a new ordinary character/place. Record what teaching actually happened, what the child tried or declined, and support. For later: require matching saved first, relevant actual teaching between and later still unseen. Another sitting or a changed task alone does not prove learning. If spoiled, use an unused reserve first, or ordinary practice with freshness unavailable. Keep completed answers and feedback with staff until first evidence is saved. Compare sampled criteria cautiously, with task/exposure/support limits; no promised gain or whole-Arts grade.
Source and audience review
Read complete authority/crosswalk, dated local facts and replacement workflow and full source rights. Queensland conditions are a current indexed text reading with retained direct 403 limits, not verified PDF layout or safety approval. Observe actual relevant standard evidence; do not grade communication mode, compliance, disclosure, speed or audience size. Review school curriculum and local conditions before a real invitation/show.
Translations are not supplied or declared reviewed. Families may use usual languages; keep their original contribution and named assistance. Do not invent First Nations translations or culturally specific repertoire. A local cultural work requires owner-led protocols, correct attribution and applicable permission. Our fictional puppets borrow no such repertoire.
One honest evidence note
Keep a short record: date; small target; source/units if used; exact own child idea/action; actual operator/maker/recipient and reply; support; plan/rehearsal/performed/shared status; unknowns; next teaching. No photo or online publication needed. Worked contexts are invented. No child trial, classroom result, validated treatment or funder endorsement has happened in this source pack.
SubjectNest by NeuroForgeIO Pty Ltd 2026. Original expression CC BY 4.0. Complete terms: NATIVE-NOTICES.md, FONT-NOTICE.txt and the selected source's five complete common notices.