Enhancing Creativity: Music and Puppetry in Early Childhood Education

This essay delves into the multifaceted relationship between music and puppetry and their profound impact on early childhood education. It highlights how both art forms stimulate creativity, fostering a growth mindset, enhancing design thinking, and promoting active listening in young learners. The essay explores the use of puppets as co-teachers, teaching aids, and tools for improving motor skills and boosting confidence in children. It also emphasizes the role of music and puppetry in developing social and communicative skills, emotional expression, and cognitive abilities. Furthermore, the essay outlines pedagogical practices, such as visualization, cooperative learning, technology integration, professional development, and inquiry-based instruction, that educators can implement to maximize creativity in the classroom. The author references Mayesky's (2015) work on creative activities and curriculum for young children, providing a comprehensive overview of the subject.

Running Head: MUSIC AND PUPPETRY 1
Music and Puppetry
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

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Music and Puppetry
There are many prominent aspects of creativity in relation to music and puppetry. Music
may be used to aid learners in their development of understanding and initiative about creativity
through music and puppetry. As both music and puppetry do involve creating and presenting,
they both aid in the enhancement of the learners creative abilities. Other aspects of creativity in
relation to music and puppetry include the following.
One is the growth mindset of the learner. This is especially more in the creation of
puppets as it involves the making of several mistakes and learning from them. This will
inevitably lead to the reinforcement of a growth mindset. In puppets design, there is also the
establishment of varied ways of design thinking (Mayesky 2015).
When puppets and music are used together, they lead the learner to be involved in active
listening and also help in supporting the learner’s creative movements. A puppet may also be
used as a co-teacher. This can be in the form of a video that can be used in the introduction of a
topic. This ensures that learners are particularly attentive. With a video recording involving
puppets, music and educational content, puppetry may be used in the preparation of teaching
programs or as an educational teaching aid.
Puppets and music when well designed and used, they may be used in the stimulation of
learners’ imagination and creativity. It also leads to an improvement of their motor skills which
do have the added advantage of ensuring learners have an improvement in brain to hand
coordination of activities (Mayesky 2015). Due to the fact that children love puppets and music,
they can both be used in the boosting of their confidence in both reading and speaking.
When puppets are designed large or they are many, the learners have an increased group
participation levels. They may also be used in the emotional development of learners especially

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those that may be withdrawn or are shy in the sharing of their feelings (Mayesky, 2015). Puppets
may also be a valuable way of passing vital messages to learners as the communication done
using a puppet is seen as fun from the learner’s point of view.
Music and puppetry have an important role of creativity for young children in that,
puppets may be used to improve the creativity of young children as they will get challenged to
create better puppets which will have arisen from the mistakes made when designing and using
the earlier puppets. This also does allow the young children to develop their creativity by
exploration of the various ways of making better puppets (Mayesky, 2015). Puppets also do
encourage children to use their imagination especially in the making of roles and situations and
their required solutions. There is also the added advantage to the young children whose world
gets to be more real to the children who do possess the chance of pretending during their usage
of puppets.
Music and puppets also increases the young children’s social and communicative skills.
This may be due to the fact that, the shy ones get to be more involved with others as they play
their respective roles. They may also help the young children be able to control uncomfortable
feelings for example, those of scary puppets of animals like the lion. There is also music
appreciation by the children when puppets are included as it becomes more interesting.
When puppets and music is used, a number of cognitive skills are involved enabling the
young children to enhance their thinking skills. Also as puppets do invite role play where a
parent or a teacher can investigate with the young children on important aspects like the
resolution of conflict, dealing with bullying from others, empathy and also on how to be helpful
and kind in the society as they grow on to be responsible citizens. Creativity will also support
their physical development, literacy and language and also aid in their cognitive development.

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There are pedagogical practices and teaching practices that educators need to implement
creativity in music and puppetry, they do include the following. One is visualization. This helps
in the bringing into life dull academic concepts with practical learning ways. This helps the
learners in their understanding of the real world connection with their schooling
The other is cooperative learning for the students which does encourage all students with
their different abilities to learn together (Mayesky, 2015). This is done by promoting of full class
learning activities. Examples here may be in the solving of different mathematical puzzles and
being involved in short role plays.
The other is in the use of technology during classroom activities. This will engage the
learners especially due to the fact that, in the 21st century, digital media is being used all over the
world. White boards can also be used for the displaying of images. This will allow students to be
able to visualize different or new academic concepts which do require learning.
The other is professional development. This is by ensuring that, there is continuous
professional development so as to be able to enhance classroom learning. This also helps in
ensuring that there is continuous update of the frequently changing educational policies and ways
of teaching Updates here may include how to use teaching assistants and the usage of new
educational teaching technologies (Mayesky, 2015).
Professional development is necessary as it is a challenge being an effective teacher. This
is mainly due to the fact that ,every student has their own uniqueness and thus the need to know
how to handle each student well and professionally and more importantly, know how to do all

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these in a timely manner in order to ensure that, there is good content delivery within the set time
periods.
Inquiry based instruction may also be used to inspire the learners in becoming more
independent learners, investigate the ideas of others and of their own so as to enhance their
individual problem solving skills.

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References
Mayesky M. (2015). Creative activities and Curriculum for young children (11th ed0.
wadsworth Cengage.