Making a Puppet
If you choose to try making a puppet, two books containing very simple and attractive ideas for beginning puppet makers are The Muppets Make Puppets and Puppets. The Muppets Make Puppets by Cheryl Henson and the Muppet Workshop, is a delightfully written, book, full of colorful photo illustrations showing ways to make puppets from objects found in most homes. Also included in this book are ideas for creating character voice and movement.
Puppets by Lyndie Wright (part of the Fresh Start series published by Franklin Watts) is another well-formatted book that shows in step-by-step photographs how to make a variety of simple puppets from easily obtained materials.
There are many other resources that include books, videos, and the internet. If you are interested in finding others seriously interested in puppetry there are local, national, and international puppetry guilds and organizations which you might become aware of and/or join.
Puppets as Effective Teaching Tools
Now that you have a bit of background on puppetry and perhaps a puppet to work with, let’s see how puppets can be used to tell stories in a variety of settings–homes, churches, schools, and libraries.
Puppets are effective teaching tools because they are playful, non-confronting actors who can do and say things that might otherwise be unacceptable or offensive. They are particularly useful in conveying information through a story that entertains.
They can also be used to discipline, to get attention, to teach a concept, to provide a group learning experience, and to role play solutions to real life situations. Studies in India have shown that conveying information through an entertaining puppet performance is one of the most effective methods of teaching concepts.
Uses for puppets in teaching curriculum might include: a reading buddy for each student, a noise monitor, a math tutor, a visitor from a foreign country, or a storyteller. On the following page you will find some other examples of how puppets have been in a variety of teaching settings.
