Should a quiet or reading area in a child care centre include hand puppets? Would they be too distracting?

Question

Should a quiet or reading area in a child care centre include hand puppets? Would they be too distracting?

Answer 1

I don't think there should be puppets for the kids to play with in a reading area.  But using puppets to tell a story or read a book would be right in line with the atmosphere you are trying to create in a reading area.

Answer 2

I think puppets would be o.k. to introduce into a reading center if they were very concretely tied to a piece of literature that the kids had already been introduced to so that they could re-enact the story with the puppets. Generic puppets however would just become play toys.

Answer 3

I believe puppets would be a distraction for the children. The point of having a quiet reading area is to encourage children to go there and at least look at, if not read, a book. I've been in classrooms where a silent reading area is turned into a puppet play center before, and I believe your best bet would be to leave the puppets in a separate area of the classroom. This way children will still have the opportunity to explore with them, but won't be distracted from the reading they should be doing in the 'reading' center.