Puppets
Puppets have entertained children and adults for thousands of years, and is a very ancient form of theatre, since 5th century BC in Ancient Greece. From finger puppets to hand puppets, these cuddly toys allow children to perform their own puppet show and engage their attention and imagination.
A puppet theatre can provide a safe place behind the curtain for children to develop confidence in drama and performing plays. Puppetry encourages creativity as children come up with stories and develop oral language skills and communication. Manipulating puppets encourages movement and develops a child's hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills as they animate and bring characters to life to tell stories.
A finger puppet fits on a single finger and has limited movement. Finger puppets are well suited for younger children and commonly used among toddlers and pre-school children in kindergarten for storytelling or to sing along to the finger family song.
A hand puppet is also known as a glove puppet and fits over and is controlled my one hand that allows movement of the mouth and head of the toy. Hand puppets allow children to try on new personalities and simply take them off again. Children can not only tell stories and act out scenes, but hand puppets can be used in playing games or to practice reading aloud and develop their creative skills and storytelling ability.
