Puppet Play is Educational: 4 Puppets to Make with Children

Using puppets is great fun! You and your group will be able to explore new ideas and create many different situations with the puppets you make. 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. Engage the children and make the experience as participatory and interactive as possible. Be creative and make puppet play a "teachable moment."

Get out the recycle box and begin to craft puppets with the children. Paper bag puppets can be made and enjoyed by kids-from preschool and up. You decide how much time and artistic effort you want to put into your sack puppet project. They can be quickie puppet play stand-ins or works of art. You can draw facial features with crayons and markers and decorate them with a few "found" objects like fabric scraps, buttons, faux jewels, pipe cleaners, yarn, any variety of miscellany you can gather. Teach the children to place their hand inside to manipulate this newly created character.

Think about using old nylon stockings to make adorable puppets young children love. Stretch a leg from panty hose over a bent wire hanger. You can bend the hanger into a diamond or even a circle shape and tape the hook for safety. Knot the stocking leg at the bottom. This is a great puppet for the little ones as they can see through the nylon like a mask and pretend they are the puppet-good vision and a no fear factor. Kids can go to town decorating this puppet mask with all kinds of materials glued on. Puff and glitter paints work well on the nylon. Almost any character the children like can be made.

Turn family snapshots into lifelike puppets. Invite children to choose several family photographs (use the photo or make a color copy) and bring them from home. Cut out the face or figure. Tape this photo figure to a craft stick. Encourage the children to create a scene with a few toys and have these family puppets interact. Use a puppet yourself to ask the child's puppet questions and to suggest different themes, such as going to the playground or solving a problem. While you are having fun together, this activity helps children develop language and social skills.

Stick puppets are exactly as their name implies-puppets build 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 your puppet is complete. Make several with "faces of emotion" and children can talk about their feelings through puppet play. To act out stories, draw the characters, find ones in coloring books, or cut them from an old storybook. Attach these to sticks and you now have all the characters to act out your favorite tale.

Yes, puppet play is fun and educational too. These are only a few of the many puppets that can be made. Look into art books and educational magazines for directions on making puppets and puppet stages.

Source: Personal Experience in the Classroom