Children's Puppets at The Faraway Tree
Always a favourite with children, puppets represent the ultimate expression of play and imagination for many. There are of course many types of puppet, from the very technical and expensive stringed puppets with intricately carved body and face, to the popular finger and hand puppets stocked by The Faraway Tree.
The history of children's puppets
Puppets have been around for many thousands of years, with the earliest mentions in text being in early greek by Xenophon, the historian. The Chinese have been using a form of puppetry for much longer and still use a form of stick puppet to this day in celebrations, however the traditional childrens puppet show, with a stage and characters, only appeared in the 17th Century and weren't meant to be childrens entertainment at all!
Children's puppets grew out of political satire, where commentators used puppet shows to show their distaste and poke fun at politicians, rulers and the Church. Infact, puppetry was at one point banned in England, as the Church found that it increasingly became the target of puppet satire shows!
Of course nowadays you can enjoy a good puppet show without facing the wrath of the Church or fear of losing your head, which generations of children and adults must be very glad of!
Despite many advances in technology, it is still the humble puppet which is guaranteed to bring a smile to any child's face, which probably explains why shows on TV such as 'Sesame Street' are still favourites with kids everywhere.
The Faraway Tree stock a good range of hand puppets and finger puppets which are great for a child's smaller hands and fingers, promoting imaginative play and providing hours of fun.
We stock everything from animal hand puppets to fantasy figures such as knights and fairies, plus a range of hand puppet theatres which will allow your child to put on a traditional 'punch and judy' show for their friends and family.
Want a taster in puppetry for your child? Think about one of our finger puppet sets, which are suitable for children from age 3 upwards. Take our 'little red riding hood' set for example - this set contains everything for your child to play out the scene from Gruelle's famous tale!
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