About Juniper Tree Puppets

Juniper Tree Puppets has been a long time center for puppetry and storytelling arts.

Suzanne Down, Director and Founder, has long been interested in the art and archetype, the magic and meaning, the wisdom and healing of story and ensouled puppetry.

We began in Vancouver B.C. 25 years ago, and are now based out of Vancouver Island, B.C. We invite you to explore the amazing possibilities of the world of puppet theater with us. This site lists information on upcoming events, courses, regional conferences, our certificate puppet trainings, and offers books, articles, and other resource materials to further spark your love of magical times with children.

We offer a variety of programs. Our aim is to bring depth of understanding and confidence in the practical and artistic skills of puppet theater, so that your puppetry is beautiful, meaningful, delightful, and of a healing value for your audiences. We also offer puppetry articles that may be of interest and use to you. The focus of the puppet training school are the 1 year part-time certificate puppetry training, and the 6 week full time professional training/apprenticeship course, both highlighting the weavings of pedagogical, artistic, and therapeutic aspects of puppetry.

Contact us about an event in your school and community. We can offer a wide range of workshop content catered to your wishes. Also under the umbrella of Juniper Tree is 'Puppets for World Change'. This has initiated several projects in the social sphere.

September 29 - the International Puppets for Peace Day - where many puppet shows around the world work together to affect non-violent change. The Hope Puppet Project Researches puppetry for underserved children in hospitals, hospice, homeless shelters, and in abuse situations.

Youth Voices Project - encourages and empowers our youth to get involved with the creative force of story and puppetry to effect social change. Puppets Against Hunger Project Puppetry that raises awareness of hunger in the world and shows us in story imagination how we can cure world hunger.

If you are interested in using puppetry in these ways contact us! The Mother Earth Puppet Project - An educational project to support and train teachers, parents, community leaders, etc. in using story and puppetry to enhance school, children, and family connection to nature and environmental health.