Bedtime at home
A story read aloud gets livelier when somebody on your hand keeps interrupting. The grandmother and grandfather characters suit a bedside chat. Gregor and Ottilie are baby dragons, each in its own egg, so either of them can duck back into its shell when the plot turns scary. The cushion hand puppets have a mouth that opens: something soft to hug at lights-out and a glove puppet for saying goodnight.
Circle time at nursery
In many nurseries a hand puppet says good morning, asks who has a birthday and starts the birthday song. A large human character whose hand you can move is useful here: it can wave to the group and greet each child in turn. Mathilda and Peterchen are two such characters. Children who want a go themselves get on well with the Chatterworms, sock puppets that need no practice, or with one of the smaller monsters. According to the maker, most Living Puppets can be washed on a gentle cycle, which counts for a lot when many small hands share them.
Reception and primary classroom
Topic work gives the animal characters a job. A minibeasts week could open with Hubi the ladybird, Doris the bee, Anton the ant and Reni the giant caterpillar. On a farm topic, Heini the cockerel and Herta the hen flap their wings, while Lucy the sheep and Stulle the pig join the conversation, each with a movable mouth. Wilhelminchen the chameleon can even stick her tongue out, which makes a lively start to a lesson on how animals catch their food.
The school play and the ventriloquist act
For a drama club production, the large human characters take the speaking parts. On most of them you can work a hand and the tongue as well as the mouth. After a rude remark, the character claps a hand over its mouth or pulls a face at the audience. A ventriloquist needs exactly this kind of partner, one who answers back. Build the routine around a role: the grandfather insisting that everything was better in his day, or Katie Kickflip, who would rather be talking about her newest skateboard trick.
Speech and language therapy
In speech and language therapy, the therapist usually does the talking for the glove puppet: it gets a word wrong on purpose, and the child puts it right. Characters with a tongue you can move give the therapist an extra way to join in with mouth and tongue games.
Activity afternoons in the care home
Over tea and biscuits, the grandmother or the grandfather can get residents talking about dances, school days or their first job. Animal characters have a place there too. Kolman the tomcat or Lulu the dog can sit on a resident's lap while the talk turns to pets from years gone by.
Characters from the screen
Woozle Goozle hosts a German science series for children, so he and his bright young relative Woonie fit nicely into a session of curious questions in class. The Wiwaldi Show, a German late-night puppet show for grown-ups, gave us Wiwaldi the dog and the Whiner. Elmo, Cookie Monster, Ernie and Oscar the Grouch come straight from Sesame Street.
A birthday present with a change of clothes
A character with its own name makes a present that comes with a story. With an extra outfit, the same figure turns into a firefighter, a police officer, a chef or Father Christmas. Outfits fit only those characters whose clothes come off completely, and the "Clothing/accessories for" filter tells you which size each set fits. If you'd rather give a realistic animal than a character, look at Folkmanis and Hansa Creation. For tighter budgets, The Puppet Company covers Puppet Buddies, baby glove puppets and sock monsters.
Buying for your setting
Invoice payment is open to nurseries, schools and care homes after a successful credit check. Before you order, the Playability filter narrows the list to characters whose hands, tongue or wings you can move.