Beyond Pinocchio: Puppets as Teaching Tools in Inclusive Early Childhood Classrooms

The global appeal of puppets makes them especially appropriate and useful for teaching and learning in inclusive early childhood classrooms where instruction must address the diverse needs of young children across a wide range of abilities (Gronna et al., 1999). Through the use of puppets, teachers (as well as peers) might demonstrate a skill in a variety of ways to encourage children to become engaged in a range of interesting and varied behaviors. This article focuses on the use of puppets as a teaching tool for enhancing child interest and engagement in preschool learning activities and routines. Specifically, tips for identifying activities that provide an ideal context for the inclusion of puppets, for developing specific strategies for using puppets within activities, for using puppets to teach behaviors within the social domain, and for selecting and adapting puppets to enhance their successful implementation are provided. A brief summary of the evidence base for puppets as effective teaching tools is also presented. (Contains 4 tables.)