Puppets are a great "have-up-your-sleeve" teacher tool for those moments when you need to capture the attention of a child. Put them onto the hands of the children themselves to encourage oral language skills, communication, and great imaginative play. Puppets are a enjoyable way to encourage children to exercise their language skills. Puppets are also effective for teaching storytelling and the arts. Children who normally do not last long in a group activity will be fascinated with the puppet and will sit down and stay awhile.