The African folktale Anansi comes to life with brilliantly colored shadow puppets! Join the Center for Puppetry Arts for this exciting event! The story is performed during the first part of the program - complete with recorded Nigerian drumming & narration. Students are introduced to the "trickster" Anansi, participate in learning activities about West African food and culture, and make their very own Anansi Shadow Puppet.

Required Materials:

Each student will need

• 1-2 pieces of 8 1/2”x11” posterboard or a file folder/some type of cardstock (trace templates PRIOR to program) ***Heavy construction paper may be used as a substitute (any color)
• 1 pencil (to trace templates)
• 1 Anansi head (template in study guide)
• 1 Anansi body (template in study guide)
• 4 Anansi leg sets (template in study guide)
• 2 drinking straws (preferably flexible or bendy straws)
• 2 brads (paper fasteners)
• hole punchers (students can share these)
• 4 pieces of tape (about 2 ” each)
• markers,crayons,colored pencils (optional)
• googly eyes (optional)

About Anansi (Ananse) the “Spiderman”

Anansi the “Spiderman” originated in Ghana, Africa and once enjoyed his life as a human. However, Anansi was mischievous and his father, the sky god, Nyame, changed him into a spider. He is depicted in numerous forms: a spider, a human, or a combination of both. Anansi is mostly a trickster (plays pranks or otherwise disobeys normal rules and norms of behavior) and sometimes a hero. It is often through his mischievous pranks in folktales or trickster tales that we learn to behave.

Anansi stories spread from Africa throughout the world and can be found in countries such as the Sea Islands, the Caribbean, Belize, Central and South America, and South Carolina (in Gullah communities). In South Carolina, Aunt Nancy is sometimes used as a folk name for the spider because the term is the Americanized version of Anansi.

About the Center for Puppetry Arts

The Center for Puppetry Arts offers Distance Learning programs for PreK-12. Students are briefly introduced to different styles of puppets from around the world (1st grade and up). Students participate in learning activities about a topic and create a working puppet of their very own to use in the classroom. A comprehensive study guide and materials list is provided for each program. All puppet materials are easy to find and of little, if any, cost. Middle and High School programs are designed to encourage dialogue between the presenter and participating students. Teacher workshops and demos are also available. The Center for Puppetry Arts participates in MAGPI's Preferred Content Provider program, and provides MAGPI members a 15% discount on all of their programs.