Puppets can be fascinating. Children understand that puppets
are not alive yet, they move and talk like real living things.
Try making one at home. Let your party guests make a
puppet to take home. Divide the guests into small
groups. Have each group make up a puppet show and perform for
the other guests. You could have judges select the best skits
and award prizes. Puppets provide another opportunity
to talk to children and encourage them to speak. They also
help children learn new words, use their imaginations, and
develop their hand and finger coordination.
Puppet in a Cup
(4 - 7 Year olds)
Give each child one
paper cup, one
plastic spoon and some type of
themed stickers.
Have the child place a sticker of one of their favorite
characters on the back side of the spoon. (Curved side facing
them.)
Poke a hole in the bottom of the paper cup with
a pen point and slide in the handle end of the spoon.
When the child pushes the spoon up and down, the puppet will
pop up and then retreats back into the cup.
Get
creative and use yarn, felt, wiggle eyes, beads, etc. to
embellish the puppet. Don’t forget to write the child’s name
on the cup as well.
Sock Puppets & Finger Puppets
(1-3 Year olds)
What you'll need:
-An old clean sock
-Buttons (larger than 1 inch in diameter to
prevent swallowing)
-Needle and thread
-Red fabric
Ribbon
-An old glove
-Felt-tipped pens
-Nontoxic
glue
-Yarn
What to do:
1. Sock puppet. Use an old
clean sock. Sew on buttons for eyes and nose. Paste or sew on
a piece of red fabric for the mouth. Put a bow made from
ribbon at the neck.
2. Finger puppets. Cut the ends off
the fingers of an old glove. Draw faces on the fingers with
felt tipped pens. Glue yarn on for hair. Put the finger
puppets on your fingers.
3. Have the puppets talk
to your child. "Hello. I hope you have a great party." "Happy
Birthday!" Or have the puppets sing a simple song like "Happy
Birthday" to your child. Change your voice when the
puppet talks or sings.
4. Encourage children to speak
to the puppet or join the singing.
5. Put finger
puppets on your child to give him/her practice moving his/her
fingers one at a time.
6. After the party if you want
help cleaning up, have the puppet make the request: "Hello,
children, let's put these crayons back in the box and these
toys back on the shelves. Can you get me the ball?"
