Inventing a story to act out may appear a simple task, but you will gradually realise that your children's imagination will come up with characters and stories of their own. Let them take the initiative but try to avoid falling back on stories they have read in books. Encourage them to use their own imagination and creativity to invent their own stories.

First: the characters
This is the main challenge and will, in principle, depend on the number of puppets you have made. It is best not to have more than five characters in total and more than two or three acting at once. Your child can move one and you the other two.

Let your children choose the names and characteristics of each puppet: whether they be good, naughty, shy, funny or bad.

Second: the plot
The second step is the story that you wish to relate. If you cannot think of any at first, encourage your children to think of situations that have occurred at school or among friends or in places they want to visit. You can also fall back on other eras, such as the Middle Ages, Ancient Egypt or the American wild west.

When you have the setting and know the story you want to tell, it is a good idea to write down the main ideas you want to convey in each scene. Try not to have more than three scenes, since otherwise the show could be a little long and boring. Although you should leave the story up to your children try to insert a little moral into it, such as the value of friendship, companionship, honour, and so on. This is a way of teaching them as they play.

If you go for three scenes, sequence them as follows. In the first introduce the characters in scenes that define their personality. For example, Mar�a, the sweet girl who strolls around the Wild West town; Tom�s, her best friend; Ana, the evil gunslinger. The second scene is the crux of the story, where the events occur. Help them to create suspense and encourage audience participation (although it will be just you and them at first, you can then act out the story in front of family and friends).

Third: the denouement
The final scene is the conclusion of the story. Try to avoid tragic endings or overly happy ones. Be as realistic as your children will allow you to be (it is best not to create an idyllic world alienated from reality). But make sure what finally occurs to the characters is consistent with their previous actions. If the children do not understand, teach them how certain behaviour or actions can have negative or positive consequences.

You have now finished. All you have to do is practice a little and, if you wish, have a public showing. Once you see the final product you may well be pleasantly surprised.