Educate and Entertain your Kids With Puppets and Marionettes

Puppets have a long and colorful history dating back thousands of years. No one knows who made the first puppet, but people have been enjoying them ever since. Puppets come in many different kinds, from the familiar sock-type to fully articulated marionettes. Bali is known for its many different kinds of jointed shadow puppets, which are used to put on plays, and in Japan, bunraku puppets 3-4 feet tall are operated by three puppeteers apiece. There are strong traditions of puppetry throughout Asia. In Europe, puppets developed from Italian theatrical shows, and grew in the 18th century. Most historical puppets were full-body marionettes. Puppets can be as simple or as complex as you want, but one thing remains the same. Puppets are enjoyable for people of all ages. They allow inanimate objects to come to life and become engaging characters through the magical art of the puppeteer.

Children are especially fascinated by puppetry, and puppet shows are a common way to put on educational displays. Using puppets makes an informational message more interesting. The bright colors and enticing or amusing appearance of most children's puppets means it's easier to keep an audience's attention. Puppets are a great way for youngsters to learn. Very young children are especially likely to be receptive to puppetry because it helps them learn visually as well as through traditional methods. Puppets can help give a lesson life and make it more easily understandable. A child watching a puppet play will hardly be aware of the learning experience. Children may feel more inclined to confide in a puppet than in an adult, even if the adult is the one operating the puppet. While puppets are engrossing characters, children do not find them as intimidating as real people.

If you want to acquire puppets for children, there are many kinds that you can shop for, but one of the most popular is puppets that look like animals. Animal forms tend to appeal to young children, sometimes more than human forms. They can be easier for little ones to tell apart because of the wide variance in their shapes. Animal puppets can be very realistic, looking a lot like the animals they're based on, or they can be more abstract and cartoon-like. Both kinds of animal puppets are well-received by kids. The most common construction for these toys is the plush puppet, made out of soft, touchable material. Felt is also sometimes used. Some are simply sock style puppets, but others are hand puppets with a place for the user's hand. They can usually move their limps and head, but don't have much fine movement. For a more realistically looking full body puppet, you could try stuffed animal puppet such a spider, bear or dragon. Marionettes puppets even have fully movable arms and legs. Marionettes take more skill to operate, but learning to use a marionette is a very rewarding experience for young and old alike. Bring the ancient art of puppetry to life for your children, and let their imaginations grow.

BIO:
Marina Neiman, author and mother of two, writes for 1888Toys.com – Educational Toys Store, featuring classic toys, hand puppets and selection of marionettes puppets.

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Puppets -- Adding Humor And Laughter To Your Life

Kids love to play with puppets as it allows them to set free their creative imagination. Puppets can bring great joy not only to kids, but also to adults, all over the world.

Puppets were first introduced to the world of entertainment thousands of years ago. It originated from Greece as the Greeks then were known to be fond of theatrical presentations. Though they enjoyed theater, they found supporting the actors financially rather expensive, so that they turned to the use of puppets in plays. They soon discovered that puppets were just as able as actors to elicit positive response from the audience, so they continued to patronize the use of puppets in puppet shows and presentations, and soon stage puppet shows became many people's favorite past time.

Today, puppets and puppet shows have come far from their humble beginnings and still continue to be popular. Many puppets are patterned after animals such as frogs, elephants and birds. Every puppet used on stage has a distinct characteristic and personality. The differing personality is expressed not only by the puppet's design but also by its individual body movements as expressed by the puppeteer's hand movement.

Puppet performing it is not as easy as you think. It requires thorough and consistent practice before you can become an expert. A puppeteer needs to study different techniques such as the basic positioning, diction, arm rods and body movements.

The most common type of hand puppets is the simple hand puppet and the larger hand puppet. Each of the puppets has their distinct usage in puppet shows.

The simple hand puppets have few or no moving parts at all. They are usually made up of flexible materials and have distinct facial features such as eyes and nose. The mouth is often included on the simple hand puppets but it is usually there just for design purposes. It does not even open or close unless a thumb enters a pocket allowing it to move.

Larger hand puppets are more complex. Other than obviously being bigger in size than the simple hand puppets, they have additional manipulatable parts such as the eyelids and hinged mouth and arms.

Aside from providing amusement and fun, puppets nowadays have taken a political turn and are also used in thinly veiled political caricatures and satire. These political puppets are often modeled on known political personalities and are often depicted in the characters' usual political setting.

Whatever the size or the design, puppets and puppet shows today still provide wonderful entertainment to many people of all ages.

For more on Puppets visit Susan's sites Puppet Show and Puppet Theater, and also at Shopping and Society.


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