I recently bought a vinyl vern for my son's birthday and he is great! Both my son 12yrs and myself practice daily and seem to be doing very well. My question is Is there a person or place to send a video so that it could be critiqued and not seen by the world? I drive alot all day so I have a lot of time to practice. The problem is I have not let even my wife see my progress. You know that feeling of not being good enough. Thanks for any insight you may have. My son is ready to show the world.

Your best critique is the mirror. But tape yourself and do two things:
1. Watch it first without the sound on. This will tell you several things.
Is the puppet remaining alive while you have lines?
Do you have any annoying habits? (I know a young magician who flips her hair out of her eyes a lot.)
Are your lips moving?
Do you LOOK like you're enjoying yourself.

2. Then listen to it with the picture off.
Are your voices distinct?
Do you have any annoying pause words, like, um, uh, okay, you know...
Do you sound like you are hearing the puppet's words for the first time? (How is your reaction?)

3. Then watch the video and enjoy.

Thank you for the insight, My name is Steven and my dad bought me vinyl vern now named Oscar. We are supposed to do a little show at a local preschool but my dad is a little nervous about it, but i'm not. thanks Steven

One GREAT thing to do with a bird puppet and preschoolers is to have them teach the bird a song. After all, we have to teach parrots how to talk. So ask the students if they have a song they would like to teach the bird. ("I always choose a quiet hand.") Pick one that you know yourself already. Have the kids sing the song to the bird and then he tries to sing it back, but he makes a mistake.

Example:
Twinkle, twinkle little car...

Mary had a little lamb whose feet were cold in the snow.