Information About Hand Puppets

Hand puppets are generally made of cloth and fit over the hand, often with a hollow head. Other synonymous terms include "glove puppet" and "glove doll." Most people are exposed to hand puppets within their first year of life.

Function

A hand puppet is generally operated by sticking one or two fingers into the cloth head to control it and one finger into each of the cloth arms. Sometimes the puppeteer controls only the head.

History

Probably the most well-known hand puppets are Punch and Judy. They were the main stars in a puppet show that began in 17th century Italy and spread to England.

Considerations

Hand puppets usually have no legs and are seen only from the waist up. With puppets that have legs, they usually just dangle limply in front of the puppet's body.

Benefits

Educators consider puppets valuable teaching tools because they can keep children engaged in learning.

Fact

A popular hand puppet mascot helped create the biggest dot-com boom and then bust of 2000, Pets.com.

References

• The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry
• Puppets for Education