Deepening an Interest

A child's play is not simply a reproduction of what he has experienced, but a creative reworking of the impressions he has acquired - Vygotsky

How to help your child deepen his interest?

1. Observe

You might remember Sid and Nidhi's self directed project on Puppet Show. It happened on one single day - got inspired, made a plan, implemented and executed the show in one day. I thought to myself, "So that's that! They have tried their hands on it and they'll move on". Boy, was I wrong!
The interest in making puppets sustained. Sid was painting his cardboard box a little at a time every single day preparing it as Gingerbread house for his next show. They were also painting a lot of craft sticks to make their characters.
This sustained interest is the key to take the learning deeper. They want to do more but obviously did not know how. This is my cue to help them dig deeper into their interest. I observed that their interests were in exploring by themselves hands on.

2. Provide required materials and skills to explore 

I added a bit more craft items to their creative box - google eyes, bits of yarn, pipe cleaner etc. The twins transformed quickly into puppet manufacturers. Suddenly there was a whole product line of popsicle stick puppets.

Popsicle Stick Puppet Factory

Puppet Product Line

Notice how finer details are added now that they are provided with more raw materials. Working on creating their own puppets also helped them refine their cutting, gluing skills. They learnt that drawing with black pencil on black felt is not helpful.  They noticed that there are head to body  proportions to be maintained, that hand does not grow from back of our heads. However these learning didn't interfere with their creativity.

3. Provide the right amount of provocations

With so many puppets in hand Sid went back to his Hansel and Gretel story with opera music. Isn't it time for them to explore other forms of puppeteering? So, I switched off lights and put on a flash light. They instantly got excited about the shadows the puppets made and started to explore the shadows.

Shadow Puppet exploration

 Shrini observed that the shadows grew big and also shrunk as she moved. Suddenly, the puppets started talking among themselves about their appearances. Here is a small video of their shadow puppet exploration.


We then watched a small hand puppet show on youtube. Then I added a couple of paper bags to their creative box and showed them a few images for inspiration. They both chose a Monster puppet as their inspiration and worked on creating their own.

Testing out his hand puppet in front of mirror

Shrini said "Mom, I want to make my puppet talk". So I took a video of her Monster's interview. Sid joined in later. It was so fun watching them transform into their characters.

 I have pulled out a small String puppet I had bought during my last India visit to provoke them explore about Marionettes. The twins may not be future professional puppeteers but I hope these experiences give them pleasant memories like the one my grandfather gave me of watching a lady puppet made out of banana peel dancing elegantly.

 I am not sure how far this interest will be taken further but we are enjoying and cherishing every moment of this learning journey. Don't believe me? Try what we did  - Imagine your hands and legs are on Strings and dance like a Marionette!