Category: Early Childhood Resources

There are many advantages of puppet play with kids and they are quick and easy to make.  Your puppets don’t have to be marionettes or ready for Sesame Street.  Kids love dramatic play and we all know how young kids can make “talking characters” out of pretty much all their toys.  So, let’s be good to ourselves and make puppetry easy for us to tackle so we can enjoy those special moments with our kids. No puppet “stage”, no problem.  All you need is something (large or small) for your little puppet master to hide behind that allows their character to be seen.  Then, you are “on with the show”. 

Puppets Everywhere Using Everything

• Sock puppets – Perfect use for those socks without a match!  Add a face with markers and you are ready to go.  Once again, scraps only add to the creativity.
• Stick puppets– Add some faces on craft sticks or even an emery board. Craft scraps or googly eyes are a nice addition but not necessary.  
• Paper bag puppets – Drawing a face to the bottom of the bag and adding some teeth, and a tongue into the folder part and your talking puppet is ready to go.  Draw some clothes on the bottom of the bag and you can make all types of characters. 
• Mitten puppets – Lost mitten use. Yes, crafts scraps (wool, buttons) can be added but not necessary.
• Oven mittens – Yes, I’ve had my oven mittens talk with NO ADDITIONAL decorations! No planning just some basic puppet talking with the grandkids.    They now come in different sizes and textures and perfect to make different characters.  They even have small size now which are perfect for little hands.  
• Paper plate puppets – Paper plates are not just for picnics.  They are perfect to draw a face on and tape them on silverware or large serving utensils.
• Shadow puppets – No materials, no problem.  Use your hands and fingers to make shadow puppets on a wall.  Hold your hand between a light source and wall and “see” what puppet characters you can make.  

Quick, fun and easy ways to keep those kids in your lives busy. Enjoy!

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• Puppets Are Good for Kids

Creative thinking is the ability to invent and/or create something new.  It is based on looking at things in a new way that hasn’t previously been considered.  Teaching kids to use their creative thinking skills can be done easily using everyday happenings.

As a teacher of Talented and Gifted students, creative and divergent thinking activities were common. Divergent thinking involves looking at things and making new connections. When we encourage divergent thinking, we help to motivate student learning.

A favorite activity I used in the classroom was asking children to generate 100 ideas to melt a snowball. It involved little teacher preparation and fostered kids thinking skills. There ideas were VERY CREATIVE, and some were hilarious. The outcome of the activity was that kids were thinking and communicating their ideas.

Here’s a super easy example that can be replicated with small changes. Show the picture below of the yellow house.  Challenge the kids in your life to name 100 things that are almost the same color. Help kids think of things by thinking about categories such as cars, signs, plants, food, clothing etc.  Don’t be surprised if you start seeing yellow all around you.  Have fun!

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Gradual Release of Responsibility (GRR) came up recently in a discussion with one of my student teachers.  The topic came up during brainstorming ways to meet the Distinguished criteria on the Teacher Evaluation tool. The GRR model of instruction suggests that learning should gradually shift from solely teacher modeling, to joint responsibility between teachers and students, to independent practice and application by the students.

I was introduced to Gradual Release of Responsibility during a Professional Development opportunity in our school. The consultant demonstrated an activity in our classroom, co-taught with us the next day and then observed us use the strategy. Each session ended with self-reflection. This method is successful both in classrooms and in Teacher Professional Development. Simply: “I do, we do, you do it alone.”

Gradual Release of Responsibility Principles:

• Mistakes are part of the learning process; the more practice, the fewer mistakes.
• Background knowledge and skills sets differ student by student which means that preparedness for learning also differs.
• Many students learn best through hands-on learning as opposed to watching or listening to others. 

Although the GRR instructional model was first used in reading comprehension, it is now used in all content areas.  The model helps move classroom instruction from lecture and whole group instruction to a more student-centered classroom that uses collaboration and independent practice.

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Getting kids to want to learn at home or in the classroom can be challenging. For some kids, they just LOVE to learn, and EVERYTHING is a learning experience.  For other kids teaching is TOUGH.  Finding ways to motivate them can some days seem impossible.  So, how can we get them moving?

To start, you are not doing anything wrong.  The bottom line is that a child’s individual personality plays a big part in their willingness to learn. Adding to the difficulty is that young children have short attention spans with many things to distract them. So, catching and KEEPING their attention may some days seem like catching butterflies! Fun but frustrating!

So, for those kids finding WHAT motivates them is key. The topic can make a difference, but so can the LOCATION. Extending learning outside the walls of the classroom can help motivate them to see learning all around them. You are important to help them learn the importance of lifelong learning.

4 Simple Strategies to Motivate

• Reading, Reading Everywhere: Reading is the foundation of lifelong learning so Fill their life with reading opportunities.  Show them that everyday life includes books, signs, billboards, texts, emails etc. Point out to them that they are readers and learners whenever they look around them.
• Make Learning Easy: Help kids to read or learn by making it EASIER so they will build confidence. Think of it this way.  When you go on a beach vacation, do you bring a textbook or an enjoyable book?  Most of us bring an easy “beach read”.  (no offense to my textbook blog readers). Let children pick their own books or things to learn by making it EASY. When they get frustrated, go back to EASIER. And when they’re “just not into it”, try another time or another day. Even when reading a “beach read”, you sometimes need a break to apply more suntan lotion or to jump into the water. Learning can occur in 30 seconds.   
• Sneak in Learning: Learning can be hidden as well. What is the result when you secretly add chopped vegetables to your “anti-vegetable” child’s dinner? If they clean their plates, they’ve eaten their vegetables.  If they don’t, you hide them better next time! The key to success is that they didn’t know about your secret ingredients. Not everything has to be talked about and discussed.  IF your “hidden veggie attack” accomplished a balanced meal without the fuss, “mission accomplished”. Somewhere in the future, the “visible” vegetables may be welcomed by your young child or perhaps your adult children.  
• Make Learning Fun: Learning can be hidden as well.  Look for fun opportunities for learning to keep kids motivated to learn.  Who doesn’t like a card game of “War”?  So much more fun that a workbook showing how some numbers are greater than others. When you want to teach kids something, think how can I make this fun? Yes, it may take more time, but the extra time solidifies the learning and it can be fun for both you and your child.  

Although it may seem like a battle to get your child motivated to learn, a different approach may make the difference. Once you find some strategies that work, it’s time to sit back and watch your child discover the joy of learning.  Enjoy the journey!

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• Motivating Your Child to Learn

This site is a one-stop, digital portal of parent resources on parenting, childcare options, concerns about child development and how to talk and work together with your child’s teacher. The Council on Children and Families (the Council) worked closely with its member agencies to develop the resources. This site was funded by the Preschool Development Grant Birth Through Five Initiative from the Department of Health and Human Services. 

The site was created for New York families but there are great resources included that are helpful for parents and children all over the world.

Parent Resource Areas

• Child Care Resources for NYS Office of Children and Family Services
• Parenting Resources from Office of NYS Mental Health
• Parent and Community Engagement Resources for NYS Education Department
• Health Information from NYS Health Department
• Economic Assistance Resources for NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance
• Parenting Resources for NYS Parent Education Partnership

For More Information

You can subscribe to the NYSB5 newsletter, text NYSB5 to 22828, or email them at NYSB5@ccf.ny.gov.

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