"I love your hair", "your dress is so pretty", "I like your make up!" , I was feeling pretty good about myself with this outpouring of compliments until I realized that they weren't directed at me, but were a barrage of adoration from Sally's first grade girl fan club.
Sally is a puppet, she lives in a magic suitcase. She has become kind of a "mascot" for the Jim and Mary Kearl Library. She's even been on a Disney cruise! Originally named Sally Sidesaddle, she has evolved from cowgirl to a multi costumed girl. The children love to wake up Sally and see what she has to say that day.
The idea of a puppet that lives in a magic suit case didn't originate with me. As a young child, my Grandfather was a ventriloquist. He carved his first Doll named Bert, out of a fence post, and taught himself ventriloquism. At family reunions, we would often have an appearance by "Bert" who would tell jokes, sing songs, and had the miraculous ability to turn his head all the way around!
Years later, when I began doing Children's library programs, a puppet in a magic suitcase was a natural step. There are many educational benefits to puppet use, here are 3 of them..
1. Creativity and Imagination
Whether a child is watching a puppet show or playing with one of their own, a puppet has the power to stimulate a child's imagination. Before we began our story times with first and second grade students, we told them that even though we knew that they knew puppets weren't real, they could use their imagination to make them seem real. This seemed to give them permission to just enjoy the process of creativity. Taking a well loved fairy tale and acting it out with puppets, using puppets for transitions, for example, having a bedtime bunny puppet to signal that it is time for a bedtime story, or having a child make their own sock puppet and tell you a story, can be a fun way to get the creative juices flowing.
2. Role playing
"Bart, you are so mean!!" In the grades 1 and 2 classrooms, Sally popped out of her suitcase, obviously hurt from some interaction with Bart the Pirate. As we talked to Sally, we all found out that she and Bart had a fight over her using his telescope. We then called Bart out to tell "his side of the story". We decided that Pirates might need to learn some manners, so we read "Are Pirates Polite?", by Corinne Demas & Artemis Roehrig, illustrated by David Catrow.
By the end of the book, we brought Sally out again, and the kids told them how to resolve their fight. Bart said sorry, Sally forgave them and we all played "Bart says Please ( a form of Simon Says, where the kids could only do an action if Bart said please first, which they loved) It was very illuminating to see the children relate to the situation and give advice directly to the puppets on how to solve it.
3. Language and reading skills
A teacher told us that she loves to use puppets. Some children who would not respond to her, would respond and participate when asked by a puppet to do an action. Puppets can be that safe "person" to talk to, or read to, even if a child is shy about participating. The children can answer when the puppet is telling a knock, knock joke, or when they ask for the magic or special word. Taking directions from a puppet or talking to a puppet can help listening skills or conversational turn taking skills. Another great idea is to have a child retell a story using puppets.
Whether young or old, there is something magical about being able to give something life, that really is the power of puppets. Most of all, keeping it simple and have fun with your child. Do you have any favorite memories of puppets? We would love to hear your experiences or ideas about puppets in the comments below.
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