The Wonders of Puppet Play
Do you give your child the many benefits of puppet play? When you know about the many benefits of puppet play, you might want to get your child some puppets right away.
Besides being lots of fun and capturing children’s attention, puppets are wonderful educational toys that support children’s development. Let’s see how.
1. Puppet play supports language and literacy development
When a parent or teacher uses puppets, stories become more lively, more fun-filled, and more meaningful. The puppets can sing, dance, touch, laugh, or cry. Because the children are engrossed in what’s going on, their listening skills and vocabulary development are increased. Puppets also encourage creative play by stimulating the imagination. Turn the puppets over to the children and let them recite and retell the story or use their imaginations to create stories of their own.
2. Puppet play for social/behavioral development
Puppets are wonderful tools for role-playing. They make it easier for a parent or teacher to deal with issues such as conflict resolution, empathy, dealing with aggression and bullying from others, being kind, etc.
Through puppet play, many emotions can be expressed that a child may be reluctant to share: pain, fear, joy, aggression, frustration, shame, anxiety, etc. Sometimes a children’s sensitive feelings and concerns, difficult for them to talk about or deal with directly, can be more easily expressed through puppets. In this way, a parent or teacher can better understand what’s bothering a child and help him or her with it.
3. Puppet play for thinking skills
When children tell stories using puppets, they get to practice several cognitive skills. When retelling their favorite stories, they use their memories and sequencing skills are strengthened. If they want, they can give different endings and additional characters to the stories, and they can also project the characters’ lives into the future. They can even create their own stories to further stimulate their creativity and imagination while also developing their problem solving skills and their ability to narrate.
4. Puppet play for motor skills
Whether it’s a marionette, a hand puppet, or a finger puppet, learning to manipulate the various parts of the puppet requires fine and, in some cases, gross motor skills. With puppets, kids get plenty of practice.
Without a doubt, puppets offer heaps of fun and learning opportunities for children from the earliest ages up. And when you and your child play with puppets together, it’s even more fun and it’s great for parent-child bonding.
So be sure that your child doesn’t miss out on the wonders of puppet play.