On Friday 22nd October, Donna Mulhern the Pre School Manager led training on ‘Using Puppets as a teaching tool in the classroom for behaviour management and Social & Emotional Development’. At Pre School we have a vast range of puppets and soft toys that we like to use as part of our planning in supporting learning outcomes as outlined in the Pre School Curriculum. All of our puppets have an individual personality and each puppet specialises in an area which we promote throughout the Pre School year such as Early Mathematical problem solving and promoting emotion wellbeing. Whilst each puppet has a specialised area, their activities and learning can cross all areas of the curriculum. The children get to know throughout the year that when a special puppet (friend!) comes out to play, this links to a particular activity and this therefore promote association. As the puppets become part of the classroom, the children build an emotional bond with their puppet friends and this can therefore be used in promoting positive behaviour and to support children’s problem solving skills and build resilience. As the puppets are visual, all children can relate to the puppets on some level and we are mindful that every child is an individual and are at different learning stages. As practitioners, we have to create our own special bonds with the puppets in the classroom and bring them to life! This takes time and confidence but Donna Mulhern provided the staff with theory on how we can best utilise the puppets in supporting child development and how, with practice, we will all become skilled puppeteers!
