Children always enjoy playing with puppets and they are invaluable in enhancing and extending activities, inspiring imaginative ideas, exploring roles and feelings and developing language and communication skills.
There are all kinds of commercially produced puppets which are useful in an early years setting, but these can be supplemented by puppets the children make themselves. Puppets made by the children are more meaningful and relevant to their immediate interests and can be as simple or elaborate as they wish.
Finger puppets
* Make very quick simple puppets by using felt-tip pens to draw facial features on their finger tips.
* Draw facial features on small pieces of card and attach the card to the children's fingers with Sellotape.
* Sew or glue together pieces of felt to make the body and add features made from small pieces of felt or other small items such as buttons.
* Add ears, whiskers and tails to small cones of paper or card to represent small animals such as mice or moles.
* Cut the fingers off rubber gloves. Draw faces on small pieces of card and attach them to the rubber glove fingers with Sellotape to make a family of finger puppets.
* Make 'moving' card puppets. Cut two holes in the appropriate place in a piece of card for the children's fingers to go through to be the puppet's arms or legs. Or make an elephant's trunk using one hole for a finger to poke through.
Glove and sock puppets
Glove puppets have great potential in storytelling. Glue or sew on faces to the fingers of a glove to create a cast of human or animal characters from favourite stories. For example in the story of the Three Little Pigs, three fingers can be used to represent each of the pigs and the fourth finger (or thumb) to be the big, bad wolf.
Children can animate their puppets at the appropriate time to join in the story as it is told or use the puppets to tell the story themselves. Other traditional tales such as 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears' and 'The Billy Goats Gruff' can be enhanced in the same way.
Sock puppets can be created by sewing or glueing features to the upper part of the foot of the sock. Or if the sock is a light colour, the features can be drawn on with felt-tip pens. Create a mouth for the puppet to 'speak' by moving the thumb in opposition to the other fingers and add a piece of material to represent the tongue.
Junk materials Collage materials Useful items for making puppet features include small pieces of felt, fur or other fabric, wool, ribbon, buttons, tissue paper, shiny paper, tin foil, beads, straws and pictures from catalogues or magazines. Always provide a range of materials with which the children can experiment and provide advice or technical assistance when appropriate.
Paper cups Cover paper cups with paper and add paper limbs and features. A child's hand fits snugly inside the cup, enabling them to animate the puppet easily.
Paper bags Draw features on paper bags, place over a child's hand, gather at the wrist and secure with Sellotape or a ribbon.
Wooden spoons Draw or glue on features on the spoon to make the face and cut a circle of material with a small hole in the middle and attach with an elastic band to make a body. The child then holds the puppet by the spoon handle under the material.
Paper plates Paint big, bright faces on plates and attach a stick to the back.
Cardboard tubes Attach paper faces to the top of the tubes and add strips of paper to make hair.
Empty egg cartons Use the cartons that open lengthways to make crocodiles, dragons or dinosaurs. Paint the carton and add features, including cardboard teeth. Push a stick through the rear of the head as a handle.
Card Cut arm, leg and body shapes from card and join together using split pins.
Cotton reels Thread the reels on to string to make snake, worm or caterpillar puppets. Attach string handles near the front and back of the puppet and children will be able to make them move in different directions.
Puppet theatre
Create an instant puppet theatre by placing two chairs sideways and a little distance apart. Peg a piece of material to the backs of the chairs.
The children can then sit behind the material with their puppets performing over the top of the material to the audience in front.
Denise Bailey is nursery teacher at Annesley Primary School in Nottingham
