Pp - Puppets, Plays, Drama
Letter: Pp
Number: Review 1 - 5
Learn About: Memory
The children will have fun learning about and making puppets in a variety ways. They will create their own puppet shows, and learn how to make simple puppet stages. There are directions for several dramatic play activities that will help develope their
social skills and communication skills. The packet is shorter (in pages) than the other theme units but it is more time consuming. It also contains reproducible patterns and worksheets. The packet also covers the Letter P, number review and match and
memory games.
Letter Activities
Using the provided letter P outline do one of the following:
Decorate it p shapes
Color it orange
Cut it out, draw on eyes, nose and a mouth, glue to a tongue depressor and make a shadow puppet
Use the provided number activity pages for review of numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5
Memory Game
Use the provided memory game, cut the cards out and place upside down. Take turns turning two over at a time. If they match you get to keep them. If they don’t, put them back in their original places.
Play a memory game: place 5 objects on a tray, allow the children to look at them for 1 minute. Take the tray away, remove one object. Allow the children to see the tray with the 4 remaining objects, see who can figure out what is missing.
variation: add a 6th object, can they figure out what is new?
Puppet Making Activities
Toilet Paper Tube Puppet
Decorate a toilet paper tube to make a puppet. Use markers to draw a face, add hair and clothes.
Spider Glove Puppet
Put your hand in an old black glove, glue on a large black pom pom right behind the knuckles on the back of your hand for the body. Glue wiggly eyes on the top part of the body nearest the knuckles. Wiggle your fingers and make the spider walk.
Felt Finger Puppets
Cut out two pieces of felt 1 5/8-by-3-inch (front and back) of the animal. Glue together the sides and top edges. Leave the bottom edges open for a finger opening. Once the glue dries, use scissors to round the top of the puppet’s head. Glue on googly
eyes. Make people, animals, etc.
Sock Puppet
Use an old sock, sew buttons on for eyes, glue on a mouth or tongue. Glue on hair a hat, a bow tie. Insert your hand in the sock and make it talk.
Paper Bag Puppet
Use the provided paper bag puppet face pieces included in the packet, color them, cut them out, glue to a paper lunch sack.
Wooden Spoon Puppet
Draw on a face using markers. Glue on fabric scraps for clothes.
Glove Finger Puppet
Use an old glove, cut off the finger tips, these will be mini finger puppets. Glue on eyes, hair, clothes and you have a set of finger puppets all ready to use. Store them together in a plastic bag for safe keeping. You could make one puppet to represent
each member of your family. To decorate them in a real neat way, use bottle caps as hats.
Mitten Puppet
Use an old mitten, add eyes, nose mouth, hair, hat, scarf, whatever you wish. The hand part of the mitten is the head, the thumb is the mouth.
Mitten and Paper Plate Puppet
Use an old mitten (not a glove) fold a small paper plate in half, hot glue (at the fold) between the thumb and mitten hand. The paper plate is the mouth. Give it a tongue, teeth, eyes, hair, hat, whatever you wish. Have a puppet show.
Bunny Glove Puppet
Using a muslin garden glove, tuck thumb of glove in, this forms a pocket on the outside of the glove. Fold the index finger and the little finger toward the center to make bunny arms. Glue in place (you can glue a basket or flowers between the two
hands). Fold the tips of the middle two fingers over slightly and glue in place to make the tips of the ears. Use a pink marker to color the inside of the ears or glue on pink felt. Draw in the nose with a marker. Draw the eyes, mouth, whiskers. Roll a
small piece of orange felt into a cone and glue small strips of green felt to the top to make a carrot. Place the carrot in the thumb pocket. Stuff the body with fiberfill. Use a dowel and stick into the stuffing, use glue on dowel stick to keep in
place. Gather the wrist band of the glove around the dowel stick and tie tight.
Stuffed Animal Puppets
Use old stuffed animals for puppets, find the area of the stuffed animal that would be the best place to insert your hand, cut an opening there and remove the stuffing. If the animal is one with an open mouth, you can remove that stuffing also and make
an area for your hand to move the mouth. Some stuffed animals work really well, some do not, so look it over closely. Visit a 2nd hand store or yard sales to get really inexpensive stuffed animals.
Tongue Depressor Puppet
Draw a face on poster board, add eyes, hair, etc. Glue it to a tongue depressor. Make a family or a variety of animals.
Caterpillar Sock Puppet
Glue pom poms, buttons, yarn, etc. to a cotton sock. Push a pipe cleaner through the toe and back out again for the antennae. Place sock over your arm and you have a caterpillar puppet.
Oven Mitt Puppets
Kitchen supply stores have some great oven mitts which are animals (the mitt part forms a mouth), and some cute fruit and vegetable characters.
Puppet Supplies Suggestions:
Pipe cleaners make great whiskers
Hair can be made from string or yarn.
Old jewelry can add pizazz to your puppet.
Puppet Stages - Easy To Make - Little To No Cost
Puppet stages can be made a variety of ways, here are a few suggestions.
Appliance Box Stage
Turn a large appliance box in to a puppet theater. Stand it on end, cut out a large square on the front just about the height of the children’s shoulders. Hot glue a curtain across the open area and tie it back. Cut a door in the back so the children can
enter easily. Have the children decorate it with markers or paint.
Curtain Rod and Curtain Stage
Use a spring type curtain rod and an old curtain. Place the spring rod in a doorway about two feet off the ground, make sure the curtain touches the ground. Have the children sit on their knees behind the curtain and put on a puppet show. Instant puppet
stage and can be stored easily.
Couch Stage
Pull the couch away from the wall, the children sit behind the couch on their knees. Cost free and the kids love playing behind the couch.
Paper Plate Stage
This works well for tongue depressor puppets. Cut a slit across the lower portion of the paper plate, decorate the stage (upper portion of the paper plate) have the child slip the tongue depressor through the slit and make the puppet move back and
forth. Poster board or cardboard can also be used the same way.
Clothes Line Stage
If weather permits do an outside puppet show. Tie clothes line on the lower portion of the poles, lay a blanket or sheet across the line so it touches the ground, have the children sit on their knees behind it.
Plays and Dramatic Acting
Acting, drama and pretending
Young children are not real capable of memorizing plays. It is better to do it as you go. Pick a theme, if you are using people type puppets give the children a situation to act out that involves two or more puppet people.
Crossing The Street
A child puppet wants to cross the street but cannot cross the street alone, an adult puppet teaches them how explaining to the child puppet how to stop, look, and listen.
Fire Safety
Have a puppet pretend d there is a fire in their house (the stage area), have another puppet explain the importance of stop, drop and roll, calling 9-1-1, getting out safe, etc.
Strangers
Have one puppet be a child and another puppet be a stranger. Have the children act out what they would do if the stranger comes up to them, and ask them to go with them.
Strange Dog
use a person puppet and dog puppet, have the children act out what to do if a strange dog approaches them.
This type of puppet acting can really benefit the children, they are learning important safety lessons at the same time. It is also beneficial if the adult is one of the puppets to get things on the right road - so to speak. Be creative, use other themes
you have studied to incorporate in the puppet acting, a great review activity
.
Animal Puppet Acting
Have the children use animal puppets, have each one introduce their puppet, what it is, where it lives, what it likes to eat. The adult can be the zoo keeper puppet, asking questions to the new zoo arrival.
Emotional Puppets
Using paper plate puppets (a paper plate with a face, 1 sad, 1 happy, 1 crying, etc) . Glue to tongue depressors, have the child act out why they have that emotion. They may be sad because they lost their dog, or have to leave. They may be happy because
it is their birthday, they might be crying because they got stung by a bee. Be sure to use a puppet stage while acting.
Make Up A Play
Give the children a theme, such as a trip to the park, have them make up a play as they go about the theme. Allow them to be creative, but try to keep them on track.
Mask Plays
Use large pictures of the animal with a hole cut out for the child’s face. Have one child close his eyes while and put the mask up to his face for him to hold. The other children give clues about the animal so the child can guess who he is. Talk about
describing the animal by telling what it looks like, how many legs, what it eats, what it does, the sound it makes.
Creative Play Activities
Reading
Choose a book to read to the children. Have a prop for each one of them that relates to the story. When the story refers to their prop, have them demonstrate their prop. You could do this sitting in a circle or have them behind a puppet stage.
Choose a familiar story to tell the children, like The 3 Little Pigs, or The 3 Bears. When you get near the end tell them you want to give the story a different ending. Have them take turns in verbally creating a new ending.
Community Helpers Dress Up
Have the children come dressed as community helpers, nothing fancy, dads white dress shirt for a doctor, a plastic firemans hat, a pretend police badge, carrying a large mail sack, etc. Let the parents be creative. Have the children take turns acting out
their community helper and telling the others exactly what they do in the community and why they are important.
Acting Out Commercials
Have the children tell you about their favorite commercial, have them act it out.
I Am Going On A Trip
A great creative play activity: have a large suitcase (or box) filled with clothing items, socks, boots, mittens, night gown, slippers, robe, etc. Each child takes a turn going to the box and selects an item, they put on the item and say I am going on a
trip and i am taking with me a ________. When they done, ask a few questions such as, who is better prepared for a cold night, who is better prepared for the rain.....
10 Seconds
Have a good whistle ready, tell the children they must act like their favorite animal for 10 seconds, when you blow the whistle they stop, tell them to hop, or run, or skip, repeating the same as above. Add as many things as you want.
Brown Bear
Read the story Brown Bear, Brown Bear, let each child choose a toy and read that part of the book as you turns the pages. Let them make up their own parts.
Role Playing
Role playing is a great introduction to creativity and drama.
Supply the children with rollers, hair clips, brushes, empty shampoo and creme rinse bottles, aprons and such. Let them pretend to work in a beauty or barber shop and do each others hair
Get hold of or make some menus, set tables, use real or pretend food. Let the children play restaurant.
Other suggestions for role playing....
Doctors Office
Post Office
Library
Police or 9-1-1
Fire Station
Veterinarian