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Puppets Ngaa karetao

Learning occurs in many ways. Some children/tamariki are auditory learners, some are sensory, some are kinesthetic/tactile, meaning they need to feel, touch and try things out for best learning outcomes. Learning about language can be made fun by introducing puppets into storytelling; it’s a great way to reach all learners as puppets are visual, they are tactile, and they move and act in ways determined by whoever is holding them.

Puppets provide an interactive and engaging play resource for children/tamariki that stimulates their imagination and creativity. Through playing with puppets, children/tamariki can learn communication skills, empathy and social interaction. They can make sense of their world through exploring different roles and characters, and expressing themselves in a safe and playful environment.

At first children/tamariki may be a little shy to express themselves holding a puppet, and therefore a good way to introduce puppets is to first use props such as magnetic stories, or pictures on a stick, to retell a well-known early childhood story such as Five Little Ducks, or The Hungry Caterpillar. As children/tamariki will feel familiar with the story, they may feel more confident to hold a prop because they can anticipate what their prop will do in the story. As children/tamariki grow in confidence, puppets can then be introduced into stories and for play for children/tamariki to use their imagination to tell, or sign, their own stories.

Puppets that visually represent a child’s home language, culture and identity helps connect children/tamariki with storytelling and play that is meaningful to them. Using puppets for storytelling is a way for tamariki to learn local history and whakapapa. Knowing local stories introduces meaningful vocabulary, such as place names. It also contributes to a sense of identity and relationship to people and land.

Puppets can help tamariki to:

• practise vocabulary, sentence structure, and communication skills,
• learn to take turns and cooperate with each other,
• express and explore feelings,
• think outside the box and develop their own ideas,
• explore and express their identity.

Information from www.education.govt.nz