The Hands-on Company – Puppets with Jo

A fun afternoon with Jo Bryant and her puppets!

We had an exciting family event on the afternoon of Sunday 3rd March 2024 at Shipinnarts with Jo Bryant from the Hands-on Company. Jo brought a huge basket of huge hand puppets which were all hand made by Jo, each of them managed to work through the children in their own special way and encourage the more quiet children to come forth and at the same time, encouraging the more extrovert children to listen.

The children and their parents, grandparents and aunties and uncles equally enjoyed this special afternoon.  The children then were shown to a vast quantity of decorations to make sock puppets which they had such fun with, making their own.  Jo had premade some finger puppets which the children could also decorate.  After a short tea break, Jo then divided the children into 4 groups and each group made up their own short puppet show which they performed for all of us.

Jo has a busy life with her furry creations. She helps teachers and care professionals use puppets in their work, alongside advising doctors how a puppet can be an asset while interacting with patients. Jo’s philosophy is that most communications can be improved by including a puppet or two! Jo’s website is: