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Writer's pictureElena

Using puppets with young learners

Puppets have always been beneficial in education, and young learner teachers often use them as an effective tool in enhancing child engagement.


There are lots of types of puppets, however, in my experience of working with young learners I've been using the following:

  • Hand puppets. These puppets often come with the coursebook. I particularly enjoy using them for classroom management and storytelling.

  • Stick puppets. They are easy to make and can be adapted to different contexts. I usually use them as visual support when singing songs or retelling stories.

  • Finger puppets. These are small puppets that slide onto your fingers. I like using these puppets with very young learners because when the children are playing with the puppets themselves, they’re also developing some key motor skills.

Where to start?

Not all teachers automatically benefit from using puppets. It might take you some time to feel confident using puppets and engaging children in learning. In my opinion, once you’ve decided to use puppets with your learners, make sure they see the puppet animated from the start. So before introducing the puppet to children, I'd suggest thinking about the following aspects:

  • the voice,

  • the movements your puppet can demonstrate,

  • the way it usually speaks. This will help you add emotions to the puppet throughout the course and help children see when the puppet is sad or happy.

When using it in class for the first time, introduce the puppet to children and play a "getting to know you" game. I'd also recommend giving them a chance to interact/play with the puppet.


Classroom management

You can use the class puppet for:

  • Routines, e.g. saying hello and goodbye, asking “How are you today?”.

  • Giving instructions when playing games, e.g. similar to Simon says.

  • Rewarding good behaviour, e.g. learners could hold the puppet for the rest of the class or say ‘Goodbye’ to everyone as ‘the puppet’.

  • Modelling age-appropriate concepts and behaviours (Webster-Stratton & Reid, 2003).


New language

Puppets also create confidence. As Simon et al. (2008) explain, the puppet is regarded more as an equal, and it is less judgmental than the teacher is. Thus, it is easier to talk to a puppet and for children who are shy, the use of puppets may encourage increased participation in activities.


Suggestions:

  • Repeat what the puppet says.

  • Pass the puppet. Play music and encourage children to pass the puppet round the circle. Whenever you pause the music, the child who has the puppet tells the puppet something about themselves (related to the topic).

  • Correcting the puppet. Ask the puppet questions and get it to give the wrong answers. Encourage children to correct it.


Literacy development

Children love sending messages to puppets. It can be a birthday card, a letter, a picture, or a secret code! If you work with a new lexical set and want your learners to practise spelling, you can encourage them to write 2-3 words using a secret code. Collect all the codes and "send" them to the puppet. Once all the codes are received, children guess the words.

Source: Macmillan, High Five!

Storytelling

Giving young learners a puppet to act on behalf of and talk to can do wonders. In my experience, I have observed that some children lose interest in listening to the story they are already familiar with. However, when they know that the class puppet is looking for good behaviour and is going to invite the most attentive children to join in telling the story, their attitude changes.


Assessment

Fear of exposure often prevents children from revealing all their knowledge. That's why puppets can be also used to test the knowledge of children, without the children being aware of that.


Final thoughts and tips

  • Even the shyest child will be interested in replying to the puppet.

  • The contact with soft puppets can relax the children.

  • Use the puppet you feel most comfortable with.

  • Using the same puppet for too long may bore children, while the novelty of using puppets may increase children's interest.


You can find all the references here

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