Puppets are a valuable part of the primary school teacher’s toolbox. They can be used with any age child and at any level. They increase children’s concentration and imagination, bring other native speakers into the room, add drama and enjoyment, encourage more spontaneous use of language, offer opportunities for creative pair work and give children something concrete to handle.

Above all, puppets enable even the shyest children to speak in the new language. Less confident children often become more vocal when they can interact with a puppet rather than with another person. Home-made puppets can be just as successful as commercially produced ones. Children can collaborate on and entertain each other with their new creations.

Questions

- It is important that your class feels comfortable with the puppet you choose. What ‘story’ might you build to introduce a puppet for the first time? What new language would you need?

- Children respond well to puppets when they see them as ‘real people’. How can you ensure that your puppet becomes and stays ‘real’ to the children?

Activity

Try out some ideas for using puppets in the classroom.

- To help with class management, a puppet could be asked to look around the class and choose children who are sitting up straight, or listening attentively.

- Try injecting some humour into your language lesson by allowing the puppet to make some mistakes and asking the children to help out.

- Experiment to see if it you can make your puppet show different emotions.

- Practise with a mirror to synchronise opening and shutting your puppets’ mouth once for each syllable.