ABSTRACT
Children need help to express their worries and anxieties or their angry feelings. This is where puppets and masks can be extremely useful. For example, drawing an angry face on a mask allows the child to have the protection of the mask while expressing the feeling. The story of ‘Hephaestus the Angry Metalworker’ can be read aloud and the child or young person can choose which scene to paint or to model in clay. Therapists can create masks of any of the characters, and think about the forge that Hephaestus has in the cave under the sea. Puppets can be projective characters in games and stories and can do projective activities that children may find difficult. For example, the puppet can draw or model or make a puzzle. Stories themselves both set limits and contain through the structure of a beginning, middle and end.
