The Value Puppetry Has on the Development of a Child's Memory

Puppets are an easy way to connect with children. If you take your preschool child to a library story hour, the librarian might use a puppet to help greet the children. Even shy children will respond to a puppet. Associating facts with the puppet, with perhaps the addition of a rhyme or cute song, helps your child remember it, even if the child might not immediately understand the content of the lyrics.

  1. Visual Learning

    • Puppets can represent characters or important facts. If you are teaching children about nutrition, you can create dancing vegetables using correctly colored fabric, Popsicle sticks and string. The brightly colored puppets can hold your child's interest in a way that pictures in a book or your voice will not. Educator Farryl Hadari, in an article for the Speaking Puppetry website, says that using puppets helps students see as well as hear information as it is presented.

    Learning by Association

    • Educators who are teaching children about social issues often use puppets as a friendly way to connect with them. Your child might see an officer from the police department with a McGruff puppet, acting out a script that might cover topics such as stranger danger or bullying. The children might be afraid of a uniformed officer, but can find a cute puppet both attractive and safe. Later, when they need to remember what was presented, they will associate the information they need with the puppet.

    Set It to Music

    • You can power up a puppet's memory-boosting ability by having it sing a song. If the children sing along with the puppet, they have a better chance of remembering the facts. For example, children have an easier time remembering the cardinal numbers if they sing a song such as "The Ants Go Marching," where each verse has an action for the number of ants. According to an article for the Skillful Brain website, even adults remember numbers better if they associate them with an object or action.

    Emotion and Memory

    • Children like to play. Puppets can introduce an element of play into learning. When your child is having a good time, he is more likely to remember the content of a presentation or lesson. When he next sees the puppet, he might feel the same emotions of enjoyment and remember the information along with it. On the other hand, frightening things, such as a loud, angry voice, can actually prevent learning because the child's attention is focused on being afraid. Correct use of a puppet can create a pleasant memory that makes it easy to remember needed information.

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