Holding a puppet in one's hand empowers a child. Children can act out or say things in role-playing that they might not otherwise say. They can problem solve or just have fun pretend playing. The process of puppet making is great fun too. Make this experience as participatory and interactive as possible. Be creative and make puppet play a "together time" moment. Get out the recycle box and begin to craft puppets with the children.
Paper Bag Puppets Are Easy To Make
Paper bag puppets can be made and enjoyed by kids from preschool and up. Decide how much time and artistic effort is needed for this sack puppet project.The puppets can be quickie puppet play stand-ins or works of art. Facial features can be drawn with crayons and markers. Just a few "found" objects like fabric scraps, buttons, faux jewels, pipe cleaners, yarn, and any variety of miscellany you can gather will make creative clothes. Place a hand inside to manipulate this newly created character.
Hanger Puppets Are Unique
Think about using old nylon stockings to make adorable puppets young children love. Stretch a leg from pantyhose over a bent wire hanger. It can be bent into a circle or diamond shape. Tape the hook for safety and knot the stocking leg at the bottom. This is a great puppet for little ones as they can see through the nylon like a mask and pretend they are the puppet character. There is good vision and no fear factor. Proceed to decorate this nylon puppet will all kinds of materials that can be glued on. Puff and glitter paints work well on nylon.
Photos Make Great Puppets
Turn family snapshots into lifelike puppets. Invite children to choose several photographs (ones that parents send in from home). Cut out the face or figure and tape this photo to a wooden craft stick. Encourage children to create a scene with a few toys and have these family puppets interact. Childcare providers can puppet play along with the children suggesting different situations, such as going shopping or taking a family trip. The interaction of this activity helps children develop language and social skills.
Traditional Stick Puppets
Stick puppets are exactly as their name implies, puppets built and manipulated on a stick. These are among some of the quickest to make. For sticks, use dowels, yardsticks, tongue depressors, wooden spoons, and Popsicle sticks. The very simplest stick puppet is a head shape cut from construction paper and features added with paint or markers. Tape a stick to the back and the puppet is complete. Make several with "faces of emotion" and the children can talk about their feelings through puppet play. To act out stories, draw the characters (or find ones in coloring books) then attach these to sticks. Now, with all the characters it is easy to act out a favorite tale.
These are only a small sampling of the many puppets that can be made. Puppet play has been used with children for many generations and has been proven to help children develop important learning skills.
Tania Cowling - Tania Kourempis Cowling is a former early childhood teacher, a published author of three teacher resource books (Shake, Tap, and Play a ...
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