Tiny goal: Find two ways your puppet can do its job.
Flexible suggested 25-minute start: split, shorten, extend or stop for this group. No measured lesson duration or child outcome is supplied.
Welcome and set up · suggested 3 min
Return yesterday's child-owned puppet or offer a new plain shape. Set a small pretend destination using paper or existing furniture approved for use. Keep the operator's comfortable position and chosen communication available.
Say: “Find two ways your puppet can do its job. You can choose, ask for help or pass.”
Model or preserve the fresh attempt · suggested 4 min
Use your own pancake courier. First it travels directly to a pretend customer. Next it waits, looks toward the counter through a turn of the paper, and arrives after a cue. “These are two ways to show the same job.” You need not move your own face, body or voice to a required pattern.
Choose a way in · suggested 5 min
1. Two entrances. Play the same character entering directly and entering after a chosen cue. Pick which entrance fits your scene. No speed ranking or required distance; the dramatic difference is the chosen arrival.
2. Still can act. Keep the puppet in one place while choosing a line, sign, symbol change, turn or pause to show what it does. Try a second cue. A still position is compatible with drama; intent alone still needs an actual expressive contribution.
3. Operator instructions. Give a willing helper two distinct directions for the same character job. Observe their two actual attempts and keep, change or reject one. Your direction and their animation remain separately attributable.
Make, try and respond · suggested 7 min
Try two versions of a character action: a changed path, position, entrance, pause, repeated action, words/signs or other chosen expressive cue. Let the child choose the change. Ask a willing watcher only what they actually noticed; accept “I did not notice” and do not tell the maker that an intended feeling was achieved.
Ask: “What could your puppet try? What changes if you try another way?”
If the child needs a next move: If a child repeats the model, offer a different destination or job and ask for a choice. Repetition can be rehearsal; it is not yet an independently invented alternative. If a helper animates, ask the child which version fits their idea and record whose movement it was.
Notice what happened · suggested 4 min
“Which version would you keep? Why?” The child can point to a version, describe a useful change or keep both. Record an intended idea separately from a watcher's actual response.
Keep and finish · suggested 2 min
Keep a quick two-version mark or exact note if the child wants it.
Next teaching move: Use the chosen action in a place with a situation. For a child still exploring one action, repeat a small attainable purpose rather than demand a second version.
Teacher evidence note: Record actual actor/action/support, the child's own idea, any source units encountered and any actual willing maker/audience. Label plan, helper action, source reasoning, rehearsal and unavailable evidence. A paper plan is not performed puppetry. Direction is a child contribution; name the actual operator separately. Do not infer emotion or understanding from gaze, pose, silence or an intended effect.
Ordinary choices · Optional home offer · Sources and item rights.