The Power of Puppets

For many children in Puggles® and Cubbies®, the puppet show is the highlight of their club experience! So why keep Puggle, Cubbie Bear, and all of their friends hidden away except for a few brief minutes during puppet show time? Here are some fun ideas to engage and delight children with puppets throughout the club meeting:

Greet the children with the puppets as they arrive.

Just imagine the smiles on the children’s faces as they see one of their puppet friends eagerly waiting for them as they step through the door! Rotate the puppets so that a different puppet friend greets the kids each week. Encourage the children to give the puppet a hug or a high five if they wish. Puppeteer tip: Remember to angle the puppet’s head down as it is talking to the children, or get down to their level, so that the puppet seems to be addressing them more realistically. 

Use puppets to lead game time.

Having a hard time getting your preschoolers to pay attention to play time instructions? Try using the Puggles or Cubbies puppets to explain how to play a game! You can even use the puppets to help demonstrate the game. For example, when teaching the children how to play Red Light, Green Light, the leader with the Cubbie Bear puppet can call out “Green light!” At that point, another leader with the Luvie Lamb puppet should run toward Cubbie Bear until he says “Red light!” Puppeteer tip: Use something to disguise the base of the puppet, like a small blanket, or cross your arm over the puppet’s base so that it isn’t so obvious that your arm is controlling the puppet! 

Have puppets distribute stickers and awards.

Consider having Puggle, Alice, or Sydney call up your Puggles one by one to place their sticker on their attendance charts each week. Or, allow Cubbie Bear, Luvie Lamb, or Katie Collie to present the awards to your Cubbies when they achieve their trail emblems or red and green apple emblems throughout the year. Puppeteer tip: Use double-sided tape looped over the “hand” of the puppet to attach the award so that it appears as if the puppet is “holding” the emblem!

Planning to try some of these ideas in your club? Have some other puppet ideas to share? Let us know in the comments below!

Order your Puggles puppets or Cubbies puppets today!