Eltam journal no 2 8th eltam iatefl tesol international biannual conference managing teaching and learning

How To Use Puppets to Teach a Lesson 

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Using puppets to teach a lesson is a simple and communicative way to get your audience to 
engage in what they are learning. Puppets can be believable characters with unique 
personalities, voices, and emotions that audiences can connect with on a personable level. 
Puppets can also bring human qualities to many lessons without being intimidating and can 
teach lessons that create a lasting impact on the audience as Gere, Kozlovich, & Kelin (2011) 
suggest. 
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At the beginning of a school year teachers can think of the kind of puppets they can use for each 
class of young learners and make a list of expressions they may use in class. 
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Choose the lesson you want to teach. You may want to find a story book that teaches a lesson 
directly or design a real-life interaction scenario that teaches a lesson that you can act out with 
the puppets.
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Practice teaching the lesson with your puppets without any audience. It is advisable for the 
teachers to practice hand movements before introducing puppets to young learners. This can be 
done at home in front of a mirror. This way teachers know what the children see in class.
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Select the puppet(s) and the props you intend to use. Develop the characters of the puppets. 
Make sure the puppets are appropriate for the lesson being taught.
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Set the stage for your puppet show.
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Teach the lesson using your puppets in a style similar to the one you practiced earlier.
Puppets in class work especially well when they are involved in a story where they have a 
problem to solve. Children will want to help the puppets by solving the problem. At the end of 
the story the children can talk directly to the puppet about how they think they can solve the 
problem.