Puppets Help Kids Learn

When a puppet is on a child’s hand, you can be sure that learning is in high gear. Often we’re not sure whether it’s the child or the puppet who is talking. The puppet becomes the mediator between the child and the audience, and the child has found a safe place to learn!

Hand puppets can make mistakes, take risks and show their true personality. When barriers to expressing language are removed during puppet play, children are able to talk openly and freely. Now, the brain can get those little bodies to do the things that build brain power!

The puppet show is vastly different from the television show. Watching television is not interactive and the human brain needs interaction to speed up the learning process. Whether a child is a puppet show performer, or a member of the audience, interaction is natural. The puppet show gets learning on the go!

Consider what you see when you watch children enjoying a puppet show. Do you see smiling, laughing, questioning expressions? Do you see the little audience lean forward as though they have entered the fantasy? Are children moving their lips, calling out to the characters and moving their bodies in response to the puppets prompts? These are behaviors that go hand-in-hand with language development. This evidence shows us that puppets help kids learn.

Put a puppet in a child’s hand and you have a learner who is one step closer to becoming a successful reader. Words have a purpose with puppets! Kids want to read the script. They want to write the script. They want to stand behind that puppet theater and share their story. Literacy skill building is a natural offshoot of dramatic puppet play.

As I work in the field of education, I see how the puppets I choose can become a child’s friend for life. I don’t want the star of the show ending their career after the second act. Consider a selection of high quality puppets. This can be done without compromising your budget. See some of my kid tested, and classroom tested favorites, at www.indoorplayhouse.com. At home, at school and beyond, puppets are ready to help kids learn. Hand-pick your cast and let the show begin!