Do you use glove/finger puppets?
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  1. #1
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    Default Do you use glove/finger puppets?

    First world problem - I can't decide whether or not to get rid of my collection of glove and finger puppets. I keep putting them in my charity shop bag and then then taking them out again, only to find that when I have another clear out I still haven't used them and so they may as well have got rid of them. They take up quite a bit of space - well, just a carrier bag full, but I want/need to create more space.

    I was so excited to build up my collection years ago, but in reality we haven't used them that much. I just know that as soon as I get rid of them I will think of a million lovely activities that they were just perfect for. We tend to just use cuddly toys for circle time activities. I also have cuddly toy versions of the usual story props - three little pigs, owls, little bears etc.

    Do you use puppets?

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    I'm the same!

    I have a big basket full too ... we don't use them much, but the children do enjoy them when I get them out!

    What I did a while back, was put some in my 'song bag' so when we're singing, the children choose an item out of the bag and we sing a relevant song - IF I can remember which song! (I now have a crib sheet of props and songs!)

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    Good idea. I'll probably just relocate them! Obviously I'm not minding at the moment and so everything is packed away because I do want to go back to it at some point in the future. I find that the kids are always excited to see them when they come out after a while but then they are like a one hit wonder.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Maza View Post
    Good idea. I'll probably just relocate them! Obviously I'm not minding at the moment and so everything is packed away because I do want to go back to it at some point in the future. I find that the kids are always excited to see them when they come out after a while but then they are like a one hit wonder.
    :-) been thinking about it, think I might 'prune' my collection ... The glove puppets are not used very much (except the big black spider! (ugh) so I might pass them on!

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    I got rid of quite a few of mine a while back and they have not been missed, the remaining once still don't get used so they are next.

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    Puppets and me do not gel together well....Over 40 years I have never mastered puppetry, colleagues have made the puppet interesting and exciting ....mine just seem to flop about at the end of my arm. But I do offer puppets regularly, with an upturned table or a blanket between two chairs and 3-4 year olds love it, hiding and only showing a puppet made one of my LO's really come out of her shell and speak publically.

    DH made a cane with curtains to put halfway up a door - but they just like crawling through this - puppets abandoned.

    I slowly drop the hide behind puppet theatre aspect and confidence develops as they are in view and pretending to be the puppet. Dramatising favourite books is the favourite, but like you say Maza you don't need puppets, other props work just as well.
    I do have a collection of ' beat babies' which live in baskets and I use in phonics and circle time mainly - Google it - there are lots of ideas out there with these. I treat these as puppets who are shy and mine love them, but I have known year groups that are not switched on by them too.
    But...If you haven't used them in a year and are not likely too then to the charity shop they go, space then can be used for something you find more interesting.

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    I'm not keen on them but they do go down well with the children. We have the Peter rabbit in a cabbage with insect puppets in. I have collect the soft toys from room on the brooms the gruffalo stories which are also popular. I also have a bag of laminated cut up pictures from a nursery rhyme and song book which I use when singing song etc. I find it holds their interest a bit more

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    Quote Originally Posted by SYLVIA View Post
    I'm not keen on them but they do go down well with the children. We have the Peter rabbit in a cabbage with insect puppets in. I have collect the soft toys from room on the brooms the gruffalo stories which are also popular. I also have a bag of laminated cut up pictures from a nursery rhyme and song book which I use when singing song etc. I find it holds their interest a bit more
    Oh yes, the Peter Rabbit one is worth keeping - I love that one.

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    I got rid of a lot of mine ages ago and haven't missed them.

    The only ones I kept were the ones related to a specific story or character, so I kept some lovely Eric Carl finger puppets but got rid of random animal ones, for example. I also split them up and put them with other resources, rather than keeping all the puppets together, as I had been doing. So now there are a few in story sacks, some in the book baskets, some in other toy boxes etc.

    I'd made the mistake of thinking of puppets as a stand alone activity, which the children were never interested in. They are used much more now as parts of other activities.

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    I have a set which I use for storytelling and when introducing songs and rhymes - what's in the bag? song and they choose a puppet and we sing the song.

    The older children use them to make little puppet shows but the little ones don't really engage with them independently.

    Maybe keep the ones that link to favourite activities and see how they get used

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    I'm glad this came up as I've been thinking about how best to cull my collection too. Like you I have some that are more likely to be used that link to specific things but other than that they just get ignored or used by me to tickle children lol! I am going to split them into other resource boxes too and so how we go.

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    Quote Originally Posted by samb View Post
    I'm glad this came up as I've been thinking about how best to cull my collection too. Like you I have some that are more likely to be used that link to specific things but other than that they just get ignored or used by me to tickle children lol! I am going to split them into other resource boxes too and so how we go.
    Haha, that made me laugh!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Maza View Post
    Haha, that made me laugh!
    me too !!!

    I've had a cull and a few of mine are off to a new home very soon!

    I got brave and had a cull of the doll box too!

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    Oh I did that to the dolls a while ago. I now have 2, a girl and a boy, one white and one dark skinned. My dd still has loads of her own but I gave up having loads too.

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    Quote Originally Posted by samb View Post
    Oh I did that to the dolls a while ago. I now have 2, a girl and a boy, one white and one dark skinned. My dd still has loads of her own but I gave up having loads too.
    ooooo, you're brave!

    I have to have 4 at least! ( for the days I have 4 EY here! ) but .... I've got 2 small soft dolls ( size of my hand ), 2 slightly larger soft dolls (one white, one darker ) 2 soft beanie 'baby' ( one white, one darker ) 2 lovely African 'rag dolls' (not babies ) from vertbaudet years ago ( they USED to live in the book case, but migrated to the doll box ), a soft cuddly eskimo doll in carrycot/papoose thing and a Chinese doll ! Oh and a cabbage patch doll that is loved by everyone! I did get rid of 5 dolls, ALL the spare clothes ( each doll has their own outfit and that's that! ) majority of bedding and accessories such as bottles etc! the small dolls, may move out, but I currently have a 20mth mindee who loves them the best! I've also got a box of gorgeous 'dress up' fisher price dolls that DD had many years ago, that haven't been played with ... (mainly because I rarely get them out, and they are not easily accessible to little people!) like these! time to let them go too I think! FISHER PRICE SNAP 'N' STYLE COLLECTION WITH 2 FIGURES | eBay

    My DD has NO dolls now ( I find that very strange, as for years she had more than me! )

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    Wow! That's a lot although how would you choose which ones not to have?! Mine are barely played with I have to say. I have 1 box of doll accessories (blankets, bags etc) and that's all. Mine like to play with the buggies and ram them into each other but not put a doll in. Mine will play with dolls along side either dr kit or kitchen for example but on the whole they don't use them- I hate to think of toys as being for a certain sex but I look after mainly boys - just 1 EY girl 1 session a week now and 2 school girls aged 10 and it does make a difference.

    We have those snap and style dolls- they are more popular with mine than the baby dolls. I have them in a box with "Rosie's world" dolls. They just seem to prefer the small world aspect than role play. Their role play is more character based like pirates or firemen.

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    Quote Originally Posted by samb View Post
    Wow! That's a lot although how would you choose which ones not to have?! Mine are barely played with I have to say. I have 1 box of doll accessories (blankets, bags etc) and that's all. Mine like to play with the buggies and ram them into each other but not put a doll in. Mine will play with dolls along side either dr kit or kitchen for example but on the whole they don't use them- I hate to think of toys as being for a certain sex but I look after mainly boys - just 1 EY girl 1 session a week now and 2 school girls aged 10 and it does make a difference.

    We have those snap and style dolls- they are more popular with mine than the baby dolls. I have them in a box with "Rosie's world" dolls. They just seem to prefer the small world aspect than role play. Their role play is more character based like pirates or firemen.
    Lol ... That's why I can't get rid of any more dolls! I have a mix of boys and girls and they all play with them ...buggies, high chair and going on picnics. And they all have their particular favourite!

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    I finally got rid of my finger and glove puppets yesterday. I see that I wrote this post in September! I had one last longing look in the bag before I did but then was brave and tied up the bag and popped them in a bigger bag for the charity shop.

    I just re-read this post and discovered lots of your lovely ideas for using puppets! Thankfully I kept a beautiful wolf hand puppet because he was a bit more expensive and fits into so many traditional stories. Also, it's quite nice to use a 'fierce' character for circle time activities about feelings too, to show that appearance can be deceptive, if the wolf is feeling nervous etc. I've also got four Christmas themed glove puppets and it's become quite a tradition for me to have to sit through several Christmas pupp0et shows at this time of year.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Maza View Post
    I finally got rid of my finger and glove puppets yesterday. I see that I wrote this post in September! I had one last longing look in the bag before I did but then was brave and tied up the bag and popped them in a bigger bag for the charity shop.

    I just re-read this post and discovered lots of your lovely ideas for using puppets! Thankfully I kept a beautiful wolf hand puppet because he was a bit more expensive and fits into so many traditional stories. Also, it's quite nice to use a 'fierce' character for circle time activities about feelings too, to show that appearance can be deceptive, if the wolf is feeling nervous etc. I've also got four Christmas themed glove puppets and it's become quite a tradition for me to have to sit through several Christmas pupp0et shows at this time of year.
    Woohooo well done you.
    Having culled my glove puppets, I can't say I've missed any of them.
    Finger puppets are getting used and as I was given a couple of sets of multicultural families, they tend to live in the dolls house!

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    Oh loocyloo a multi cultural set would be lovely! See, my puppet collection is going to grow back soon!

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