Hobbies And Interests
Types of Puppets
A puppet can be a face drawn on a finger or an intricately crafted marionette. While stuffed animals and toys can also be used as puppets, you can make finger puppets by sewing clothing, hair and other features onto the fingers of a glove, then wear the glove or cut off the fingers to make individual puppets. Use socks, mittens or paper bags as hand puppets. Make a reversible sock puppet with the grandma on one side and the wolf on the other to tell the story of Little Red Riding Hood. Stick puppets can be made by gluing fabric or paper characters, houses and other scenery to wooden sticks. Hinge the joints of paper puppets with brass fasteners to make their arms and legs move.
Age-Appropriate Puppets
Hand and finger puppets made from soft materials or stuffed animals are best used with small children. Those that can be hugged and touched are perfect for bedtime. Stick puppets and marionettes work well for older children who can handle them gently and stay focused on a story.
Learning Puppets
Use simple props with puppets to reinforce a concept. For example, you can teach numbers and counting with finger puppets and nursery rhymes that have multiple characters, such as Three Blind Mice, Three Little Pigs, Three Little Kittens and This Little Piggy. Additionally, you can teach toddlers about time with a clock, stick puppets and the rhyme Hickory Dickory Dock, explain the days of the week with a calendar, finger puppets and the rhyme Monday's Child or encourage bath time with a terrycloth hand puppet and the rhyme Rub a Dub Dub, Three Men in a Tub.
Puppet Stages
To create a puppet stage, move the puppets along the edge or surface of a book, chair back or counter. You can create a theater by draping towels over a spring curtain rod hung in a doorway.