Puppet has been known by many people, including children. However, do you know what a puppet is? It is a figure moved by someone in a show. Those figures can be humans, animals, objects, or fictional creatures.
However, here we will discuss people puppets. So, people puppet is a human character in the form of a figurine that is moved by someone known as the puppeteer. The character is played in a story to be able to entertain people. Usually, the story genre that uses people puppets is comedy.
Not only adults but people puppets are also liked by children. It's no wonder that most puppets target children as their audience. Of course, the stories that are intended for children have plots that are appropriate for the age of the children.
The people puppet is moved by the hands of a puppeteer by displaying various characters. The puppeteer also makes different sounds according to the character. So, the mouth of the puppet figure that is played by the puppeteer must be adjusted to the sound.
However, there are also puppeteers who can move the puppet without touching it. The ability of a puppeteer to do this is a specific form of Mind Over Matter.
What is Mind Over Matter? It is the brain's ability to control and influence bodies and objects. So, it's like the power of the mind that makes a person able to move an object without touching it. It is also known as the phenomenon of telekinesis. In fact, some puppeteers can do much more than that. The interesting thing, eventually more and more people are interested in puppet shows.
People puppets first appeared in the 5th century BC in the area of Ancient Greece. In the beginning, there were several types of people puppets, depending on the intended use and shape.
There are two types of puppets that used to be widely used. They are simply puppets in the form of finger puppets. The finger puppets are small puppets that are inserted into one or two fingers of the puppeteer, then moved around. Usually, this type of puppet uses socks as a material to describe the character of the people puppet.
Meanwhile, the second type is the stem puppet. So, these models were built on a rod that is attached to the head of the puppeteer. Although small-sized people puppets are widely used in performances, in some cases there are large-sized people puppets. Even the size can be bigger than humans. Usually, large people puppets are used in parades or festivals.
The people puppet is great entertainment for children. Moreover, how to get it is also very easy because there are many templates provided, including here. It is also not a hassle for children to work on, they only need to decorate their own people puppets in the template provided.
Then, the children can color the people puppet according to their wishes. Children can add clothing or accessories to each person's puppet character for each of the templates.
In this way, the child will be entertained. Children can also become good at coloring and drawing through this motor activity.
We also have more printable template you may like:
Printable Oval Template
Carnival Printable Ticket Templates
Tea Cups Printable Box Templates
By coloring and drawing on the people puppet template, children will get many benefits. So, these activities not only provide entertainment for children, but also other benefits for the child's brain. What are they?
Coloring can help children improve their memory. So, they will avoid the risk of Alzheimer's disease. The reason is, when children do the activity, they have to imagine as much as possible.
Coloring requires a good eye and hand coordination. In that way, the children will be able to use the stationery well in making good pictures. For this reason, by diligently coloring people's puppet templates, children's motor skills will also be honed.
Children are also vulnerable to mental disorders and trauma. Therefore, by doing coloring activities on various kinds of templates, children's abnormal behavior can be overcome.
Usually, children who have symptoms of mental disorders tend to do dangerous things when they are emotional. Examples are head banging, biting, and anger. However, that overflow of negative emotions can be healed by doing coloring and drawing activities, such as using these paper puppets.
This method was recommended by a researcher and psychologist from the University of Leipzig, Germany, named Evelin Witruk. He applied art therapy to children who were victims of the tsunami disaster in Aceh, Indonesia. Through coloring and drawing activities, those children recover faster from their trauma.
Even though coloring is done by hand, this activity can also improve children's communication skills. This is noted as they can convey their thoughts and feelings through pictures and colors. This method is certainly very helpful for children who are shy and not confident when they have to convey something verbally.