Make Popsicle Puppets...and Practice Communication

How many times a day to you say "Use your words, not your hands" to your young children? Probably more than you'd like to count! Preschoolers need to learn about conflict resolution. And puppets can help!

What You Need:

• 10-20 popsicle sticks
• glue
• safety scissors
• 10-12 pieces construction paper
• crayons

What You Do:
1. Set the stage. Talk to your child about the importance of being able to communicate his needs, wants, and feelings to others, including parents, siblings, and friends. Tell him that sometimes when our words don't work, we can be tempted to use our bodies instead, but that hitting or pushing is never okay, so you’re going to practice some other ways to tell others what you need.

Help your child create the following signs, by drawing pictures on circles, and labeling them with the following words:

• Stop (draw a stop sign)
• Speak (draw lips)
• Share (draw 2 hands holding a toy)

Once he’s created the signs on construction paper, he can use his safety scissors to cut out the pictures and glue each one on to a popsicle stick. Explain to your child that these three signs are a reminder of what they can do when they have a problem with another person. They can "Stop" before things get out of hand, they can "Speak" to the other person about their feelings and talk about solutions to the problem, or they can “Share” if the argument is about a toy or game that both kids want.

2. Get puppeting! You don't need fancy puppets to have a puppet show. Kids can make puppets at home easily, with a few simple supplies. Depending on what you have kicking around the house, help your child create at least two puppets using: