Puppets

Last year, in the creative expression and movement course, we learned some methods, advantages, and uses for puppets in the classroom. Growing up, I was never big into puppets and I had never developed an appreciation for puppets, so during that segment of the course, I kind of brushed it off, thinking I'll never use this ... oh how wrong I was.

Before school even began, I was introduced to puppets again through my mentor teacher using them on the home visits. I found that she was able to incorporate a story to teach the child some "rules" of the classroom and to ease their fears even before the school year began. The first few weeks of school, she was using puppets everyday at circle to help teach the classroom rules, to reinforce good manners, and to tell stories to help develop social skills.

I was honestly amazed at the students' responses to the puppets. Not only were they captivated during the stories told by the puppets, but they would request for the puppets to make more appearances.

My teacher regularly uses, Mano and Bano and Naughty Nimbo to help reinforce the classroom rules, good manners, and good behavior. And also Precious Pat and Spot to help teach social skills, and self confidence/diversity.

This past week, the students were able to make their own sock puppet which even included a birth certificate for their puppet. On the last day, the students were able to use their puppets at circle to practice appropriate social skills. It is so interesting how the using the puppets can be such an effective method to teach students social skills that could be used throughout their day to help negiotate and solve conflicts.

I became so intrigued that I made my own sock puppet, Mr. Forgetful, that I use during circle time and transitions. The students have responded positively to Mr. Forgetful, enjoying that he forgot to have two eyes, forgot to brush his teeth which resulted in yellow teeth, forgot to comb his hair, and forgot to wear his pants! Mr. Forgetful is used to help reinforce the rules and good circle time behavior, as he forgot the rules and the students have to remind him. He is also used for transitions in a variety of ways. He forgot student name's but he knew the beginning sound, so when he said the beginning sound, they were able to go line up. Or, he forgot the student's name, but knew rhyming words, etc.

I have found that using Mr. Forgetful, gets the student's attention and they enjoy the activities, often smiling and laughing at things Mr. Forgetful says and does. Using puppets has also been beneficial to address certain problems in the classroom, such as running inside, cutting line, and not playing nicely with others. Being able to address these problems, through a story and scenario with the problems is an effective method, as it provides the students with ideas and knowledge of how to handle the situation in the future, provides a discussion starter, and allows the problem to be addressed in a positive manner that is not degrading any particular students.

Within a few short weeks, my outlook and knowledge on puppets has changed drasatically. I used to never give puppets a second look or even consider making or buying one. And now, I cannot get enough. I am so excited to continue to expand my usage of puppets in the classroom.