ABSTRACT
The use of finger puppets provides a viable option for applications with children from preschool through elementary ages and older children who function within these developmental levels. The fingers themselves may enact characters just as they are, with painted faces, or shrouded in miniature puppets that allow distance and objectivity for enactment, observation, and the process of change to begin. The direct physical involvement and manipulation of finger puppets puts this task within their easy reach. Given the multiple finger actors upon which to build, the applications of finger puppets are amplified. The need to master manipulation skills of larger hand puppets and more frequent need to halt the play to search for and acquire additional puppets is minimized. While the one hand may engage in the puppet play, the other can be free to introduce props or stage changes.
