Teaching with Puppets

Wood Designs offers a wide variety of Puppet Theaters.

Puppetry is the use of inanimate objects in the form of a living character.  This is most commonly done by the use of finger or hand puppets.  Puppets have been used for over four thousand years as forms of entertainment and education.  Time has proven they are an excellent way to initiate a discussion or teach lessons to young students. 

Puppets are a great tool with small children because they mimic play time while delivering knowledge.  The use of puppets can get even the most hyper child’s attention and ease the delivery of information.  Children enjoy the colorful looks of puppets and their distinctive personalities.  One way to deliver a lesson would be to have a cast of puppets teaching addition or singing a song about learning colors.  Engaging children with this imaginative play is an excellent way to educate them while keeping it lighthearted and entertaining.

Puppetry is also wonderful for social development and the delivery of important rules.  For example, if a child treats another student poorly or teases, it may be helpful to use puppets as a way to explain why this is not a nice way to behave.  A great use of puppetry would be to act out the problematic situation with the puppets in the classroom and have the students and puppets suggest better ways to handle the situation.  This allows the children to know what is acceptable behavior and how to handle a situation when the rules are not followed without embarrassing the child who might have misbehaved.

Another great past time is to allow the children to create their own puppets and puppet shows.  Finger puppets are easily constructed with paper, felt or cloth being wrapped around the finger and decorated.  Larger puppets can be purchased or cut out of paper and taped or glued to popsicle sticks.  Even making sock puppets can be a creative outlet for kids. Allowing children to decorate and make up stories with their own puppets can also be just as beneficial by enabling them to tell a story or ask a social question without anxiety. 

Wood Designs manufactures puppet theaters that are excellent for housing your puppets and providing a stage to play on.  These are available in two different sizes and can be purchased with chalkboard, marker board or flannel board fronts.  There is appropriate shelving in the back of the unit to allow for puppet or prop storage.  These theaters are great for interactive play and provide a natural look.