Creative experiences for Children

Creative Experiences for Children 2(1+1)

Lesson 15 : Role of Creativity in over All Development

Puppets

Puppets can be used for almost any of the dramatic experiences that have been described here. They offer the child two ways to express creativity,

1. The artistic experience of making the puppet, and
2. Making the puppet come to life.

Many kinds of puppets are suitable for use by young children
Puppets fascinate and involve children in a way that few other art forms can, because they allow children to enter the world of fantasy and drama very easily. Children enjoy puppets because they provide this variety of experiences. Puppets often reveal the inner world of the child and help them to learn variety of things.

The use of puppets usually begins in the nursery or preschool, where they are invaluable when they are readily available for dramatic play. Teachers can teach finger plays with simple finger puppets; hand puppets can act out familiar nursery rhymes. For instance, in the preschool the concepts of “above”, ”below”, “behind”, “in front of” and so on can be clearly shown with the puppet.

Puppets can be used in illustrating concept such as self-esteem, friendship, and creative story-telling to younger ones. The children are bound to come up with countless other ideas for using their puppets. Puppets are very popular with teachers as mood indicators. A kindergarten teacher uses paper-plate, stick puppets with the following expression for many of her ”feeling” activities. A surprise box puppet is popular in one class room. Each week it is responsible for bringing new and interesting to its surprise box. Felt boards and puppets work well together.

Phonic puppets are good to use in kindergarten classrooms. The teacher can have one for each letter and the puppet can only say words beginning with its letter. Puppets enliven science experiments by discussing them or performing simple ones. Puppets can be used in natural sciences to represent the elements in a particular environment, such as air/water. In teaching music, teachers find that puppets help students develop a feeling for rhythm and music interpretation by moving the puppets to the beat.

Kinds of puppets: Hyperlink the following text

Stick puppets	These are controlled by a single stick (any slim, rigid support) that goes up inside the puppet or is attached to the back of it. Stick puppet are fun and easy to the make. The teacher can use some sticks from the timber yard, large twigs, or wood chopsticks.
Bag puppets	The common paper bag in any size can make a good puppet for young preschoolers. The bags are stuffed with wads of news paper and stapled or glued. A body is made with second bag stapled to the first, leaving room for the child’s hand to slip and work with the puppet.
Shadow puppets	These are figures that appear on a screen due to arrangement of light behind them. They are usually flat, cut out figures made of cardboard or other heavy material
Finger puppets	Finger puppet in which two fingers (usually the index and the middle fingers) serve as the puppet’s legs. Finger puppet that slips over an individual finger. Puppet is made by drawing a face on a finger with a felt-pen. Usually, one can perform with quite a few puppets of this type at one time. Some advantages of finger puppets include: Ease of manipulation, even by a toddler. They encourage small-muscle action. Inexpensive to make. One child alone can put on a performance with an “entire cast” They maintain interest because they are always easy and quick to make. They can be made in spare moments, since materials are small and mobile.
ooden spoon puppets	Wooden spoons, yarns, strip material, scarf, and glue and construction materials are needed. Draw a face on the wooden spoon. Glue on yarn, string for hair, and scarf of material for clothing.
Two-faced (paper plate) puppets	draw a face on the back of each paper-plate. Add features with various types of materials. Insert a stick between the paper plates and glue it in to place. Staple edges together.
Sock puppet	pull sock over hand. Glue, sew, or paint facial features on to toe of sock, or decorate as desired
Vegetable/ fruit puppet	Draw potato, turnip, or carrot, banana, mango etc on a paper and cut out the figure stick to card board and paint characteristics of the vegetable/ fruit.