Where the hand goes in
Every Folkmanis hand puppet is built around the hand, in a way that keeps the shape of the animal. Where the hand goes in therefore varies from one character to the next. Inside, the hand reaches every part that can be worked.
That decides what the character can do later: whether it speaks, whether it can reach and point, whether it lifts its head. All of it is decided at the design stage.
What can be worked, and what that lets you do
Many of these hand puppets have a movable mouth; on some birds it is the beak. Which parts can be worked varies from character to character, and many can do several at once:
- Movable mouth – the character talks, eats, yawns and laughs.
- Movable front legs or arms – the character can reach out, wave, hold something or cover its eyes. On monkeys, on meat-eating dinosaurs such as T. rex, on some dragons and on human-like characters they are arms.
- Movable head – nodding, tilting, turning away. On a long-necked animal that one movement already says a lot.
- Wings, beak and tail – wings spread, beaks open, tails swish. Dragons and fruit bats have wings too.
- Every leg – on a few characters, every leg can be worked, so the animal walks, sits down and gets up again.
- Hiding away – animals that withdraw into a hard shell, a snail shell or some other hiding place and come back out again.
- Special touches – a tongue that shoots out, eyes that move or blink, movable front flippers, built-in sounds.
Related designs
Alongside the classic hand puppet you will find two further designs here:
- Hand puppets worn like a glove – your fingers work individual limbs, so several movements happen at once.
- Reversible puppets – zips reveal the next stage of a life cycle, with one stage folded into the next, for instance from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly. A transformation story then needs only one hand puppet.
Choosing: four questions worth asking
What should the character be able to do?
For dialogue, reading aloud and role play the movable mouth matters most: its movement shows the group which character is speaking. If the character needs to hold something, point at it or comfort somebody, look for movable front legs or arms. For silent moments — curiosity, alarm, agreement — a movable head is enough.
Who can work it?
Most of these hand puppets can be worked by children and adults alike. How much room a hand finds inside depends on the shape of the animal or fantasy creature, and is hard to judge from the outside. We are happy to advise you on a particular hand puppet.
Who is watching?
At bedtime or across a table, visibility hardly matters; what counts most is which animal appeals. In a morning circle or a group therapy session, the movement needs to be seen from every seat, and a movable mouth shows most clearly who is speaking.
One hand puppet, or two?
A single hand puppet quickly settles into a fixed role with a name, a voice and a manner of its own. As soon as a scene involves a disagreement or a negotiation, it needs a second character. Two hand puppets that are worked differently pair best: one with a movable mouth to speak, one with a movable head to listen and nod.
Where hand puppets do their work
In a nursery a hand puppet often does what an adult finds hard to do in their own role. It reminds children of a rule without telling anyone off, and asks questions without testing anybody. In primary classrooms it gives children a reason to talk, and an argument can be acted out with two hand puppets without anyone actually having one.
In speech and occupational therapy the hand puppet gives a child somebody they will often answer more readily than an adult. In elderly care a familiar animal such as a cat, a dog or a bird often opens a conversation. And at home a hand puppet gives the bedtime story a voice of its own.
How the range develops
Folkmanis brings out new characters twice a year, and older ones are gradually retired. The designs and the ways of working them stay the same; only the individual characters change.