Little Wing Puppets is in town with an interactive puppet show for children and families.

With a strong environmental message, The Fish That Wanted to Fly is aimed at young children aged three to 10.

Set in in a mangrove swamp, it follows the story of Little Fish, whose lagoon is drying up. All the other fish have left for the ocean, so she wants to learn how to fly so she can see them again.

The show, told with hand and rod puppets, has already been performed to more than 50,000 school students and in festivals, theatres and halls in every state and territory.

It’s the brainchild of company director, co-writer and performer, Jenny Ellis, who says the hands-on, colourful world of puppetry is an ideal way to activate the imagination and explore important topics in an accessible way.

Ellis has made puppets for many large-scale festival events, including the Yeperenye Festival in Alice Springs, The Adelaide Fringe Festival opening parade and the opening sequence of Melbourne’s Moomba parade.

She has also been the artistic director of Birds Without Borders and The Song of the Eels, an art project involving 18 schools in the Glenelg Region of Western Victoria.

Environmental education is part of the show and after the play, the audience will be given the option of a workshop where they can make paper sea creature puppets of their own.

The Fish That Wanted to Fly, Tuggeranong Arts Centre, July 18-19.