Welcome Back to…PUPPETS!
Once upon a time….
A few weeks ago, a Lyft driver pulled up to give me a ride to the airport.
An older gentleman, his eyes widened when he saw my huge 28” red suitcase. I shrugged and apologetically said, “Um…it’s mostly puppets.”
He instantly got a strange look on his face: “Puppets? Really? Wow…I just remembered that when I was in 2nd grade, I MADE a puppet!”
As he wove through San Antonio traffic, he excitedly told me about making his paper mache puppet, and the puppet show his class put on, and how his puppet was the pirate and he had to learn to swashbuckle a sword around in the puppet’s hands…
“I haven’t thought of that in more than 60 years,” he said with a grin, as he dragged my suitcase out of his trunk and plopped it on the sidewalk. “Thank you.”
And THAT, my honored colleagues, is the magic of puppets! They weave hands, heart and head together to tell stories, invite imagination, and whimsically explore emotions and challenges.
All with a wiggle of the fingers…literally!
That’s one reason they have always been my favorite tool for supporting children through transitions, large and small, like…
✅ Lining up.
✅ Waiting to use the bathroom.
✅ Settling for group time after playing outside. AND…
✅ Getting used to a new classroom and friends!
Pop a puppet on your finger and your words suddenly cut through the background chatter of children’s busy minds and nervous systems.
I’ve been collecting finger puppets for years, at craft fairs, garage sales, and online. They tuck into a pocket and can be whipped out at a moment’s notice.
And this makes them the PERFECT companion for navigating the sometimes bumpy road of “Back to School!”
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Top 3 Reasons WHY Finger Puppets Help with Back-to-School Transitions
Kids love puppets. Adults love puppets. But somehow, their daily use in early childhood has declined greatly in recent years, according to early childhood teachers I speak with, as well as various authors, like Natalie Grebe.
As Grebe says, puppets may be IN the classroom, but with the exception of specific programs like the Pyramid Model’s Tucker the Turtle, they aren’t played with.
Here are three reasons YOU may want to use finger puppets during these first weeks of new classrooms, new friends, and new routines!
1. Finger puppets build relationships
There is nothing more affirming to a child than to know that their grown-ups GET them. And nothing says: “I see and celebrate the way your brain is developing” than entering their world of make-believe.
Having a finger puppet at the ready confirms that, in all the newness, there is someone who shares and honors their explorations of the imagination!
2. Finger puppets put the SELF in self-regulation
SO many new routines and rules and expectations as a child gets to know a new teacher and/or new friends! And kids, barely starting on their quest for self-regulation, respond like we do to stressors: by over- or under-reacting.
Puppets capture their attention and invite them to co-regulate with this whimsical character…and the kind grown-up who just wants them to line up so they can get outside to play! So much better than compliance for the frazzled nervous system!
3. Finger puppets are literacy powerhouses
Oral language development, including listening! Vocabulary! Story structure! (even if the story is about the little monkey who would rather swing from trees than line up!). Mental imagery!Fine motor coordination! (Once they use and even make their OWN finger puppets… which you know they will want to!)
You’re hitting literacy standards while helping children playfully create a new classroom community! What could be better?
🧠 💜 👏🏽
Finger Puppet Magic!
You can find finger puppets EVERYWHERE!
Maybe even stuffed in a box at the back of your class closet!
For a treat, I sometimes go to Folkmanis.
Popsicle Stick Puppets!
You can MAKE puppets out of ANYTHING!
These imaginative teachers in
Massachusetts used:
Popsicle sticks
Pipe cleaners (chenille stems)
Googly eyes 👀
Random loose parts
Glue
Markers
…to create wild and wonderful puppet friends to use with kids!
Envelope Puppets!
No popsicle sticks? No worries!
Simple envelopes make GREAT puppets that fit on your hand and chatter and chuckle their way into kids’ hearts!
These amazing infant and toddler teachers in Texas used:
Envelopes
Googly eyes 👀
Loose parts
Markers
Glue
They’re ready to use their puppet creations for fingerplays and storytelling with their babies!
NOTE: The linked detailed directions and video recommend using square-ish greeting card envelopes. I, personally, have always used legal sized envelopes, as seen in this picture. Easier to find (you can even use recycled ones!), and I like the head shape better!
But wait! There’s MORE!
Of course, there are MANY other ways to create finger puppets, most of which can also made with kids! I found this little video while searching Google for “puppet emojis” (😂). Paper, glue, markers, DONE!
