On a sunny Friday, I was trying to entertain EV and keep her occupied, to prevent her from disturbing the sleeping AA. I didn't have any special activities planned. Spying some foam numbers in the room, I just propped some numbers on my finger and started doing puppetry with them.
EV quickly got the idea and picked her own numbers.
'Hello 5! Can we play together?'
And so little EV's imagination was triggered and she started getting the numbers to 'talk' and 'play' with each other. Besides promoting number recognition, this fun game can also be extended in the following ways:
- Play a counting game. Draw dots on paper or use counters and get the foam numbers to 'find' the correct number of dots or counters.
- Larger numbers can be used to match the child's age and knowledge.
- Teach and match the spelling of each number. For example, teach the word for 6 - six, or match the number 3 to the word three.
- Simple addition and subtraction can be taught using puppetry too.
- Make up own stories using the numbers
This activity is not just about numbers. As the imagination is evoked, creative skills are being developed as well. So too are language, speaking and listening skills, as new stories, roles and situations are being created. EV seemed to be in her own world as she directed her own puppet play. She was communicating with her number puppets so effortlessly and with so much confidence, except for the times when she will ask me to stop taking pictures and join her in her play. It's really amazing to watch her 'working' with her numbers.
We will definitely be doing more puppet play. Socks, paper bags, soft toys, whatever we can find makes a good puppet. Hmm.. perhaps we will do our very own puppet show based on our current favourite story Cat In The Hat Comes Back tonight? That would be a blast!
Have you done any puppetry lately?
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