What is a puppet?
A puppet is a movable model of a person or animal that is typically moved either by strings controlled from above or by a hand inside it.
Playing with puppets is one of the most educational activities you can expose your children to.
Importance of puppets in early years learning
These handheld toys have the potential to improve language skills, creativity and social awareness.
- Language Development
Children love to have conversations with a puppet. Each verbal interaction with their puppet will encourage language development. Children who are generally shy really benefit from the opportunity to let the puppet be their voice.
- Social Development
Children adopt new personalities. They explore different perspectives as well as discover new insights to their own personality. The shy child, or the young child still learning social skills, has an opportunity to be more sociable through the medium of a puppet. The puppet becomes the spokesperson for the group. A puppet can be the voice used to correct table manners or other social skills. The puppet becomes the instructor and children often enjoy listening to the puppet teaching them to be sociable.
- Emotional Development
Puppets can teach children about their emotions. Children can interact with the puppets as they share their ability to be happy, sad, angry, funny or jealous. Puppets help children to express the feelings in an appropriate way. Children can express these emotions too without upsetting anyone. Their puppet character is the one to feel these emotions. Playing with the emotions of the puppets helps to develop the characteristics of sympathy and empathy too.
- Listening Skills.
Puppets are great tutors. The puppet on your hand can encourage your child to listen to it as it gives instructions or tells a story. Puppets can help children to learn rhymes and songs as they imitate the puppet.
- Physical Development
Manipulating hand puppets requires to wear the puppet which helps with dexterity and using fingers to manipulate the puppet improves and develops fine motor coordination.
- Self confidence
Children develop their self-confidence through the act of handling a puppet. As their confidence grows, they will be happy to entertain family or friends. The puppet is center stage and the child becomes more confident to speak in front of other people with the help of a puppet friend.
- Creativity
Puppets encourage creativity on several different levels like making your own puppets from recycled socks or paper bags. Making a puppet show stage helps the children to relax as they are engaged in puppet activities.
- Story Telling and Sequencing
Storytelling comes alive with puppets. Retelling favourite fairy tales is a great way to put on a puppet show. Learning how to repeat the rhyming part of the story like in the ‘Gingerbread Man’ helps with memory skills.
Conclusion
Having fun and entertainment with a puppet is top of the list of reasons why playing with puppets is beneficial in early years learning. You can be sure puppets will improve language skills, boost confidence and help your child with many other educational milestones.