Gen Con Puppetry Program

Interested in volunteering or being a puppeteer pro with the Gen Con Puppetry Program next year? Fill out the noncommittal form in the schmomments & let us know how you might like to help!

Do you have any favorite photos or memories from the 2026 Gen Con Puppetry Program?? We’d love to see them! Share your favorite memory, photo, or silly moment with us below!

If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to puppeteer, There’s still a little room left in a few of Sesame Street puppeteer, Stacey Gordon’s workshops!
Just Lip Sync (wks26nd315422),
Intro to hand puppets (wks26nd315908)
Puppeteering for Social Media (wks26nd315082)

Stacey Gordon is the puppeteer for Julia on Sesame Street and has been teaching neurodiverse groups around the country for over 20 years.

With Mychal Threets – we proudly and also humbly accept the honor of being one of Mychal's top fans. We'd like to thank the academy, as well as all of the puppets sitting in boxes, waiting to attend Gen Con 🎉

The Gen Con Puppetry Program is SO HAPPY to welcome Mychal Threets and his book-joy magic to our program! He'll be doing a very special Puppet Story Time on Saturday morning at 8am, so grab your kids, your Library Joy, and get ready to start your day off right! (He'll also be joining us in the Puppet Slam as well as at some events in the writers symposium just upstairs!)

Go get your ticket for EVERYONE in your group (big, little, and inbetween), since this event is free and we expect space to be extremely limited!

*KERMIT FLAIL!*

Wanna live it up like you're the fanciest Victorian around?? Toy Theaters were extremely popular in the Victorian era and are still an easy way to get into storytelling through puppetry! You can make this incredible toy theater at Gen Con this year in a workshop with designer, puppeteer, & paper sculptor, Timothy Taylor!
Thursday @ Noon
Ages 18+
Game ID: WKS26ND306232

If you didn't get into any of the puppet-making programming that you were hoping to get into, our silly-goose leader forgot to add "Puppetry Program" to one of the events, so it's HIDING! Make an Easy Peasy Glove Puppet in Richard Gomez's workshop still has 8 spots left on Sunday at 1pm!

(Don't worry, it'll be even easier than this one, but guaranteed just as adorable!)

https://www.gencon.com/events/316913

Who's that special puppeteer we're bringing in this year?? IT'S JENNIFER BARNHART!!!!!!!

Jennifer Barnhart is an actor, singer, and voiceover artist who is known primarily for her work as a puppeteer. She was an Original Broadway Company member (Outer Critics Circle Award) of the Tony Award-winning musical, Avenue Q, where she created the role of Mrs. T/Bear. She created the character of mama lioness Cleo on PBS’s Between the Lions, and she is an Emmy-nominated performer on Sesame Street, where she plays Zoe, Maggie Cadabby, Gladys the Cow, and Granny Bird, as well as the human role of Meredith (Charlie’s Mom). Other children’s TV shows include Helpsters, Julie’s Greenroom (w/ Julie Andrews), Johnny & the Sprites, and Bear in the Big Blue House. She also does work as a “human” regionally (The Arden, Goodspeed, Alabama Shakespeare Festival), where some favorite roles include Lady Macbeth, Goneril, and Mrs. Cratchitt. TV appearances: Law & Order: (SVU, Organized Crime), SNL, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, The Pause with Sam Jay, and House of Cards. In 2019, Jennifer debuted her solo cabaret, "It’s About Time!" at the Laurie Beechman Theatre in NYC. Her voiceover credits include work for animation series, award-winning educational apps, and she has narrated titles for Penguin/Random House audiobooks.

Would you like a sneak peek at our schedule of events for 2026??? EXCELLENT! There's a special little way to do that in the comments. 😘