Puppets for Parents

What's it all about?

You may be wondering why your child is using puppets at school in science lessons. The reason is that puppets have been shown to be helpful for science in many ways:

• Puppets engage children in science and help to capture their attention.
• Puppets get children talking more about science, and talking about science helps them to learn science better.
• Puppets get children to think more and to use more reasoning in their science lessons.
• Children say that they understand science better when puppets are used to explain some of the ideas.
• Puppets are very motivating for children, so using puppets helps them to enjoy their science lessons more.
• Puppets help to give children confidence, especially children who are shy and do not normally speak out in class.

How can you help?

You can respond positively to using puppets in science lessons. The puppets are in school to make learning better, not as toys. If you take them seriously then your child will too. You might also decide to buy a puppet for your child to use at home. In our research children with their own puppets used them as learning partners and their learning benefited from this.

How to get hold of puppets

If you decide to buy a puppet for your child (perhaps as a birthday present) then you can obtain puppets from:

Millgate House Education Ltd
Tel: +44 (0)1270 764314
Fax: +44 (0)5601 156500
Email: info@millgatehouse.co.uk
Website: www.millgatehouse.co.uk