ABSTRACT
Many young children enjoy the experience of making their own puppets. The design and construction of puppets can provide positive learning outcomes cognitively, physically and creatively for the young child. This element of the puppetry experience is widely addressed in published literature (see, for example, Rocard, 1979; Flower & Fortney, 1983; Hogarth & Bussell, 1985; Snook, 1985; Caruso, 1986; MacLennan, 1988; Robson & Bailey, 1990; Orton, 1993; Smith, 1996). Some of these authors have placed some measure of importance on children working towards a polished finished product, and have provided very specific guidelines and instructions related to puppet-making techniques. Other authors have more strongly emphasised the value of children experimenting with puppet making, such as Gammon (1993) who supported the view that children’s puppet making should emphasise the processes of elaborating and adapting both the design and the construction, so that the children may experience success in creating characters from their own imaginations.
