Soft fur, sharp claws and twitching whiskers. What’s your favourite animal? One that meows? One that barks? Or maybe one that scurries or slithers? From pets at home to animals in the zoo, let’s find out what animals like to eat and where they like to sleep. Do you know how to look after a rabbit? A cat? Or even a snake? Find out how the elephant got his trunk and how the rhinoceros got his leathery skin. Perhaps you know how the dog got his waggy tail? Can you make a food chain to show who eats who? Who is a herbivore and who is a carnivore? 

Our focus for this term will be design technology! We will be looking at different types of puppets and thinking about how they work! We will then design our very own animal puppet of our choice! We will be practising our joining techniques of sewing and gluing to create our finished puppet! 

What is a Puppet?

A puppet is a moveable model, animated by the person who controls it using their hands or strings. Puppets usually take the form of a human, mythical figure or an animal. They're used in entertainment, most commonly for storytelling. There are different types of puppets, and they're operated or manipulated in different ways.

What is a puppeteer?

The person who manipulates a puppet is called a puppeteer. The puppeteer moves a hand, arm, rod or string to animate the puppet itself. Depending on the type of puppet, the puppeteer can control the arms, movement, eyes and mouth to create gestures and actions.

Usually the puppeteer manipulates the puppet's mouth in time with a spoken part. In this way puppets are used in dramatic performance. This is a tradition stretching back to the Ancient Greeks in the 5th century!

What are the different types of puppet?

As we'll see, there are different types of puppets. Here's a list of the most commonly used:

1. Finger Puppets
2. Hand Puppets
3. Glove Puppets
4. Shadow Puppets
5. Rod And Arm Puppets
6. Marionettes
7. Stick Puppets
8. Ventriloquist Puppets
9. Sock Puppets
10. Your Hand (decorated with eyes and clothing).