Kindness Puppets

Create puppets that encourage children to talk about feelings and solve problems in peaceful
ways.

Ready-To-Use Teaching Ideas: Problem Solving/Art

Materials:

● chart paper and a marker

● old socks
● fabric scraps
● buttons, pom-poms, yarn, felt
● scissors
● glue
● a large cardboard box or carton

Objective: Children will reflect on feelings and design puppets to use in

discussions, cooperative problem solving, and conflict resolution.
ACTIVITY
1 Ask children to think about all the different ways people feel and all the
different ways they feel, too: happy, sad, angry, cranky, excited, peaceful, and
so on.
2 Talk about how the same person can feel many different ways at many
different times.
3 Explain that they are going to make puppets "feelings puppets" - and that
they can decide whether their puppet will represent one feeling or many
feelings.
4 Provide children with a variety of materials to design their puppets: socks,
paper bags, fabric, pom-poms, yarn, felt. Ask the children to name their
puppets and help them label each one with the feeling or feelings they choose.
5 Invite children to share their finished puppets with the group. Talk about
how these puppets can be used to help people talk about and sort out feelings.
For instance, if someone is feeling lonely or afraid, the appropriate puppets)
can be brought out. If there's an argument, children might enlist the help of a
puppet or two to listen to the problem and help them come up with solutions.
Work together to decorate the box in which you will store the puppets. Ask
children to suggest a name for the special box - Peace Trunk, Puppets' Place,
and so on.
Remember: Though some children may be very comfortable playing with
puppets, others may not be as used to the activity. You may need to encourage
children to use puppets as they explore their feelings by modeling situations
and also bringing out the puppets yourself. For instance, if you're going to the
dentist and feel a bit anxious, you-could share this with your group and then
bring out a few of the appropriate puppets and "puppet role-play" the event,
leading the puppets in a conversation.
This activity originally appeared in the August, 1999 issue of Early
Childhood Today.