Activity: Finger Puppet Master

Finger puppets are perfect for the littlest of hands to create their own imaginary world.  It is a good way for a child to engage in role-playing, that further enhances social confidence and encourages creativity. 

We recommend the use of themed puppet sets, to ease the story creation process.

When played together with family or friends, it also opens the door to improved oral communication, social and emotional development, and communication by reflective listening.

Let’s get those fingers moving, and puppets talking!

Things You Will Need

• Paper
• Pencil and Colours
• Pair of scissors
• Glue

Learning Objectives

While you follow the activity, ensure you focus on

• Fine Motor: Small actions such as picking up and holding objects
  Finger muscle and motion control
• Social skills: Increased group participation
  Develop interpersonal intelligence via roleplaying
• Cognitive skills: Stimulates imagination
• Life skills: Boost confidence
  Learn etiquettes via parent-led roleplaying
• Language Skills: Oral communication skill
  Reflective listening

Let's Get Started :)

Below is a list of resources, to help you conduct the activity with ease!

• Activity Video
  Watch and follow along!

• Finger Puppet Template
  A tiger, a monkey, a rabbit and a panda; all here to make your fingers dance :)

Adaptations and Variations

For children with blindness

Finger puppets are an excellent way to create tactile characters for your storybook reading experience. They are also very useful for practising pre-braille skills such as finger isolation, and fine motor control.

Create the puppets using fabrics so that they can last longer. 

Use socks to create hand-puppets, to add more perceivable textures and features. 

For children with traumatic grief

Puppets can support children emotionally by giving them a “friend” to talk to, or a way to talk to other children or adults without having to speak directly.

Encourage children to tell their own stories via different characters. Even if they aren’t using words, observe how the child makes the characters interact with each other to assess their feelings and behaviours, at the same time broadening the range of expression of feelings and presenting options of new behaviours.

Puppets for reading

Children can practice reading their favourite books to puppets, especially if they’re too shy to read in front of teachers or other children. 

Children who are not reading yet can make up stories to tell the puppet, or “read” to them by telling a familiar story using the illustrations in the storybook. Puppets can also read children their favourite books.

Pretend play and role-play are important play skills that children can greatly benefit from. And with this activity, we hope your children get plenty of practice to bring in their creativity and imagination.