Puppet play therapy.

Abstract

Most likely, puppets have influenced our lives in one way or another. Some of the most renowned puppets include Mister Rogers' Neighborhood's King Friday XIII and Lady Elaine Fairchilde, Sesame Street's Bert and Ernie, and Muppets Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy. These puppets engaged children by meeting them at their developmental level with colorful bodies, musical voices, realistic movement, captivating interactions with others, and applicable topics for children. As developmentally appealing toys, puppets can also engage children in the process of play therapy. Puppet play therapy is the therapeutic use of puppets in play therapy to promote psychological wellbeing in children. Puppets are often used by children as a tool in symbolic play. Both Piaget (1951) and Vygotsky (1976) asserted that the process of symbolic play is an important component of child development. In symbolic puppet play, children use puppets to represent people, objects, thoughts, and behaviors through play. This type of play can help children develop social and emotional skills as well as promote healthy coping skills. Puppets are used in varied contexts of play therapy including child, adolescent, group, and family therapy settings. This chapter explores the history, therapeutic

Small steps can lead to big changes: Goal setting in schools using solution-focused play therapy.

“…Nims (2007) and Leggett (2017) recommend ways that puppets can be employed to help children set goals in SFPT. The Choose a Puppet technique (Hartwig, 2020) can be a great tool for goal setting with puppets. For this technique, the school-based practitioner asks the student: “Choose a puppet that shows how you feel right now in school.” The student can choose any puppet.…”