Puppetry is alive and well in many of our early childhood teacher education programs! At Sophia's Hearth, located in Keene, New Hampshire, and specializing in the child development of children from birth to age seven, use of the hand puppet in a Waldorf classroom was the focus of a elucidating research project....
~ Janene Ping
Pedaogical Puppetry In Support of Early Childhood Social Emotional Learning
by Nico Donnell
Sophia’s Hearth Teacher Training Center Research Project
July 2025
Puppetry is considered to be one of humanity’s oldest performance arts and storytelling modalities, dating back at least 4000 years. Dr. Rudolf Steiner said that puppetry “is the remedy against civilization’s ills” and began to give indications for this art form before the advent of the first Waldorf school in 1919. In the early childhood classroom, puppets of all shapes, sizes, and mechanisms of action are employed: finger puppets, table or stand puppets, rod puppets, hand puppets, marionettes, and even shadow or transparency puppets. Any of these puppets can be used to convey a story, be it a nursery rhyme or more sophisticated fairy tale and are particularly suited to the young child. Interest is at the heart of all learning and Rudolf Steiner says that “all education is self-education, and as teachers we can only provide the environment for children’s self-education to unfold.” In using puppets as a medium, I sought to discover if they contributed to my student’s social and emotional learning opportunities.
To define and understand what constitutes social emotional learning in contemporary educational circles and standards, I explored the work of the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL), a national organization founded in 1994 by researchers, educators and child advocates. They originally coined the widespread, now household term: Social Emotional Learning (SEL). CASEL states that social emotional learning (SEL) is an integral component of education, and ”... is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions.” This organization provides research-driven SEL curricula to schools and advocates for policy with governmental organizations. Their curriculum offers explicit instructional materials that focus on a framework of five areas of competence or essential skills.
These five areas are, in part, taken from founding member Dan Goleman’s influential work on emotional intelligence. Accordingly, the 5 essential areas of social and emotional development as they pertain to the developmental capacities of the early childhood student and this paper are:
1) Self-awareness -- the ability to recognize one’s emotions
2) Self-regulation -- managing our emotions and behaviors
3) Social awareness -- developing empathy for others
4) Belonging -- forming positive relationships and the skills to resolve conflict
5) Contribution -- making choices about personal and social behavior
These five elements informed the areas of observation I employed during my study. My methodology, rather than implementing an explicit, discrete curriculum, led me to lean into elements already employed in my classroom. SEL is already woven into Waldorf education’s holistic, developmentally informed curriculum. Our aim is not to educate solely the intellect of the individual but to help prepare them to be conscientious, cooperative, and compassionate members of society.” In early childhood, much of what we do encourages and strengthens the development of these five areas. The use of puppetry, in particular, called to me as a tool that had the means to implicitly build connections for the students regarding their behavior in a social context. I wondered whether, through the use of consciously chosen stories and/or connection to a puppet character, I would see any changes in the students?
Over the last three years, as a lead teacher in a preschool classroom, I have observed many children in my care who need tremendous amounts of support to navigate the social environment at school. The students in my class range in age from 2.75 to 4.5 years old. For many, this is the first time in a setting where their family is not the primary caregiver(s) for extended hours of their day. For some, acclimating to school life can be a lengthy and challenging process. This transition is supported by elements integral to a healthy classroom; rhythm, repetition, and cultivating a positive family/teacher relationship, but what is to be done when this is not enough? All of the children, to some degree, are working to develop impulse control, acquire language skills, and develop an understanding of the boundaries and behavioral expectations. The frequency with which certain children become dysregulated on a daily, even hourly basis, and require one-to-one teacher support has given me many opportunities for observation, reflection, and adaptations to my curriculum. Through this reflection I have found myself asking the question of how to address these behaviors. Understanding the impulse behind children’s behavior is paramount, but how do we facilitate change and growth without causing undue harm to their blossoming sense of self-worth and self-confidence? I sought to deepen my implicit teaching techniques, which speak to the collective rather than the individual, and promote a healthy classroom culture of kindness, respect, inclusion, and cooperation.
In the “Education of the Child in the Light of Anthroposophy”, Steiner shares that children from birth to seven “... take in all the impressions in their environment and react to them with their whole organism.” “These impressions...work deeply into the subconscious and become part of the child’s bodily constitution, shaping its health, temperament, and later character.” In my classroom research, I wanted to try to utilize puppets to convey explicit SEL concepts in an imaginative, warm, playful, and humorous way. Through a running story narrative, delivered via a puppet, I hoped to bring these concepts without calling attention to particular students in the class whose behavior indicated the most need for support in these areas. I wanted to bring ideas to the children in a subtle way, engage their senses and if possible, stimulate their own inner capacities for problem solving, self-regulation and empathy.
During the last few summers of in-person training, I had the good fortune to observe a few of Janene Ping’s gorgeous hand puppets she had on display in the community room. She described how she brings the hand puppets to the children in her class and this greatly inspired me. Although I had never used a hand puppet in a classroom setting, I decided to try creating a class “mascot” that would interact with the children in a similar manner. The mascot would come out at a predictable, regular interval in our day and “speak” to the children. Like Janene’s, “Rosie”, she would visit after free play and cleanup time and provide child-like observations and commentary while we finished eating snack. Borrowing Janene’s puppet pattern and seeking her advice on a few practical aspects, I created a child puppet and named her “Blossom”.
Blossom visited regularly at snack time. On the first day Blossom joined us she was "feeling" a little uncertain and nervous to meet so many children, as she herself had never been to school. She "whispered" in my ear (Blossom did not speak directly to the students but I conveyed her thoughts to the children) and told us that she had very sensitive ears and really needed it to be calm and quiet when she came to visit. I spent the first week, simply introducing her and letting the children come to her one at a time for a closer look. Unprompted, most eagerly shared their names with her. They all wanted to touch her in some way, and one of the three year olds that had the hardest time with impulse control accidentally smeared her with sunflower butter when she was talking to another child and the desire to touch her soft hair proved too strong!
After the introductory week wrapped up, I decided to choose a topic, be it a behavior or emotion that I would weave into all of the discourse for the coming week. My intention was for Blossom’s conversation to draw from events that had truly transpired during the preceding two hours. The first two hours of the day contained ample material as this is when the children spend time in our purposeful morning-work activities, circle time, and free play including the transitions in between. Admittedly, the behaviors or emotional topics were all related to behaviors children in the class were needing support with, which is why they were so readily observable by Blossom. Each Monday, I would observe the children during the first two hours and choose an event or generalized theme to have Blossom speak to and I would then revisit it over the course of the week. Each time Blossom shared with the children, she began by telling a little bit about something that had happened in her own family life and then shared something she observed in the classroom. On average the dialogue between Blossom and I lasted around two minutes and at the longest, five minutes.
Blossom never named children directly or gave explicit details of what she noticed. I started every visit the same way, establishing a rhythm and tone for the encounters. I would begin by greeting her as she stayed very close to my shoulder and ear, waiting for it to be quiet enough for her to face the table and children. She would always wave to the children, then look at me and nod which was the cue that she wanted to whisper something to me. The themes that were brought through Blossom during the weeks of study were: cooperation/working together, recognizing when someone is hurt and lending aid, sharing/turn taking, inclusion in the classroom and the identification of feelings-exploring the polarities of nervousness and excitement.
I will summarize my salient observations below.
The entire class was very welcoming towards our puppet mascot and were very excited for the first week to two. All of the children were engaged with Blossom’s presence, meaning they were attentive and curious and desiring to interact with her. A week after Blossom joined out class, I observed a universal shift in behavior during tidy-up time. Blossom's "observation" was on the joy of Cooperation. Before this point, clean up was a struggle - many of the children were resistant to contributing and caring for the space. After Blossom's visit, something shifted, and there was little to no redirection needed; everyone was working smoothly together. There was a palpable change in class dynamic; Blossom certainly engaged them and had become a proxy member of the class. The four year olds seemed to respond to her with more sustained interest than the three year olds. As each of the children in my care are unique individuals with distinct biographies, temperaments and at varying stages in development, I wonder if I could have set up different metrics with which to observe the children to form more concrete correlations?
I do believe that Blossom began infusing the classroom with some of the 5 key concepts that CASEL seeks to bring in their curriculum, most notably: belonging, cooperation and social awareness.
As part of my research, I sent home a parent survey that resulted in a 75% participation rate. Of those responders, all (except one) confirmed that the children organically shared with their families about Blossom’s presence or anecdotes from other story curriculum in class. In fact, two parents asked me whether we had a new student start the class as they were unaware Blossom wasn’t “real”! While somewhat outside the scope of this study, most of the respondents shared that their children retold, reenacted through play or put on a puppet show at least once in the last 6 weeks of school.
Through puppets, we have the power to capture the imagination with a visual representation of character, archetype, and gesture. Utilizing a puppet as a class mascot was a wonderful way to offer behavioral reflections and engage children in SEL opportunity in a manner that was enjoyable and playful. In my opinion, it was a balanced way to bring to light important classroom culture phenomena without being overtly awakening or explicit.
I am encouraged to continue this work and in future, plan to utilize a class mascot for the entirety of the school year. My class will be much younger next year, as 8 children moved on to kindergarten. My observations this year, lead me to consider whether the hand puppet will be the most appropriate choice when working with a majority of two and three year olds. I am also considering creating an assortment of child-sized hand puppets to have available in the classroom for use, much the way I have made table puppets available for use during creative free play, though again this may be better suited for slightly older children.
Steiner tells us that the less consciously the child perceives, the deeper the sense perceptions penetrate. This subconscious penetration forms a physiological foundation which affects the moods, feelings and behavior of the individual, one that they will carry through their adult life.
It is my hope that through the gift of story and puppetry, students in my care experience meaningful influences that nurture and support their emotional and social well - being.
References
“Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL).” Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), https://casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/.
Currell, David. The Complete Book of Puppet Theatre. Black, 1985.
DeForest, Louise. Mentor - Advisor. Sophia's Hearth Teacher Education Center.
Grossman, Lindsay. Therapist - Kindred Psychotherapy and Wellness, PLLC. child centered play therapy specialist. Interview May 15, 2025
Mitchell, David. “Social-Emotional Education and Waldorf Education.” Research Bulletin, vol.
28, no. Spring, 2024, pp. 74-79.
Ping, Janene. Mentor - Teacher Trainer, Sophia's Hearth Teacher Education Center. Puppet Pattern credit. Interview March 28, 2025
Rehbach, Marjorie, and Hemlet von Kügelgen. “Marionette Theater - Posing a Task for Socially Oriented Education.” Ripple, January 27, 2017 https://www.ripples.us/blog/marionette-theater-posing-a-task-for-socially-oriented-education.
Steiner, Rudolf. The Education of the Child and Early Lectures on Education. Anthroposophic
Press, 1996.
From the Introduction
In the early part of the 20th Century, Rudolf Steiner is said to have made this intriguing statement: “Puppetry is a remedy against the ravages of civilization” (Breyer, 2013, p.15). When I first heard this, it seemed to me that the Austrian philosopher, educator, natural scientist and spiritual researcher may have overstated the power of puppetry—especially in light of how Waldorf early childhood puppetry, my focus, is approached in such an intentionally simple way. How could this grand statement be so? But how wonderful if true.
I can think of some ravages that could use remedying and, unfortunately, the list is long: Materialistic greed, screen obsession, addictions of many kinds, eroding attention spans, rampant anxiety, conflict, violence, governmental and business corruption, abuse and neglect of vulnerable people, self-absorption, isolation, impoverishment, exploitation, diminished inner lives, learned helplessness, the “othering” of others, shallow “group think,” casual deceitfulness, vengefulness—and, overall, a deficit of imagination, inspiration, intuition and initiative in the solving of problems. Perhaps, ultimately, these ills signify a lack of connection to “more than self”—that ineffable something that connects us all at core as fellow travelers along the path of life. This lack contributes to the erosion of goodwill that is so often at the core of life’s troubles. If simple early childhood puppetry, informed by Rudolf Steiner’s understanding of the human being, has the power to make a positive contribution to society, that certainly is a welcome prospect.
What to Ponder. The researchable questions I wished to take up in my study, then, were: (1) What are the ways in which experienced Waldorf early childhood educators have come to understand the meaning of Steiner’s intriguing statement, “Puppetry is a remedy against the ravages of civilization”?; (2) What do teacher-puppeteers observe that may indicate puppetry having a remedying effect on children and adults?; (3) How do I myself experience the creative process and my own inner life as I engage in puppetry, and what after-effects might that have?; and (4) How might Steiner’s ideas of ‘living thinking’ as something essential to human freedom and creativity be supported via early childhood puppetry as practiced by Waldorf educators?
A Way Forward. Steiner’s foundational book, The Philosophy of Freedom, served as a backdrop for these questions. In it, he points the way toward achieving a state of inner freedom that involves the capacity to think independently yet in ways that are loving, intelligent, morally sound, new and alive. Actions based on this kind of living thinking are intrinsically the opposite of shallow, rote, careless, cold or separating. Genuinely free and living thinking—something we all have the capacity to develop, Steiner promises—keeps the thinker in the driver’s seat as numerous and conflicting ideas are presented, as life tends to do. As Steiner said, “We must be able to confront an idea while experiencing it; otherwise we fall into its bondage” (Steiner, 1894/1995, p. 257).
Making Connections. My goal for the thesis was to connect, in what might prove to be helpful, even unexpected, ways: The practice of Waldorf early childhood puppetry; my own observations and contemplations of creative processes around puppetry; and Steiner’s ideas about living thinking and freedom in light of the challenges of our times.
From the Conclusion
Rudolf Steiner emphasized that a developed inner space is essential to being a free human being. This developed inner space, or heart center, is where we can commune with spiritual guidance, come to know ourselves “in here,” and understand other human beings and the world “out there.” Through all the connections and communications that intersect in that space we can develop an upright moral stance that allows us meet the world with agency, creativity, engagement, wisdom and love.
Uniquely Apropos. The teachers I interviewed, authors I quoted, and my own hands-on experiences all showed that puppetry is a uniquely apropos medium through which to cultivate that inner space—and provide soul food that nourishes an upright I. This inner space is where we can overcome our own limitations in order to, first, become more fully integrated and self-examined and, from that place, effectively work together to meet the world’s challenges.
Our Core Task. Woven throughout this paper is the message that this is our fundamental life’s task: The development of an upright, integrated I. Further interwoven with this lifelong striving are ideas of living thinking, will and freedom.
Integration and Initiation. An especially strong moment of inner recognition occurred for me when Karine Munk Finser (speaking to me on the heels of her having taught a course in Hungary on The Cosmic I Am in light of Steiner’s views) described puppetry itself as initiation into becoming I carriers. That gave me pause. It was one of those times when all the different ways of thinking about and engaging in this exploration of puppetry seemed contained in a single sentence that lodged directly in my heart. I understood more clearly, upon hearing this message, that when children experience puppetry, there's a glimpse of this beholding of something bigger than themselves, and knowing that they’re not there yet but are heading in the right direction.
Why We Strive. This longing for reintegration with the I Am helps explain why we have such a striving within to learn more, do more, try harder, be better, fall and rise, carry on, find meaning. All of this requires an engaged will.
Saying Yes. Watching gentle, transporting puppetry helps children say yes to this journey of becoming more-than-self because it is such a receptive time for them. The children feel safe, carried by the rhythm, sounds and colors of the puppetry offering, and enveloped in the “etheric blanket” and loving intentions of the teacher-puppeteers. They can stop contracting and bracing themselves against the world, and let go.
Inspiration, Creativity and Will. This project gave me many new opportunities to see creativity in an expanded light and in a more grounded way—not as colorful ideas floating above our heads that we might somehow catch on a whim and play around with, but as something essential to our humanity that is forever bound up with the primary element of free will. How valuable to be able to nurture this fundamental capacity through early childhood puppetry!
The kind of inspired thinking (and the spiritually aligned actions that result from it) that puppetry can elicit in both puppeteer and audience could be described as thinking that is fresh, innovative, responsive and fruitful, and carrying within it a glowing spark of energy-for-the-doing; it is perfectly poised between thought and real-world action and intertwined with willpower. In other words, as I have come to see, it is not enough to be inspired, the will must be engaged in response to inspiration.
Recollections of Healing. The hands-on exercises I engaged with for the contemplative, experiential portion of this study helped me to viscerally come to insights regarding inspiration, striving, uprightness and healing. For example, in my experiment using a “lifeless/life-filled” puppetry ensoulment practice, I appealed to inspiration while assuming a physical stance of uprightness; doing so had the effect of subduing my physical pain while walking so I could carry on with the walk. The experiment allowed me to overcome my resistant self and reminded me that, with spiritual support, I can burst free of limitations. This transcendence is what Steiner urged us to strive toward. It is in overcoming our small selves that we become freely moral and also, as my experience showed, stronger and more resilient.
To Act, and not React. In The Philosophy of Freedom, Steiner posited that thinking about thinking is what leads us to moral thought and action. This again relates to that pre-birth glimpse of the Cosmic I Am that sets us forth on a lifetime of striving to learn to act uprightly, from a centered place, and not merely react to life’s triggers. This thinker who thinks about thinking is the inner observer that allows for some space so that wisdom has a chance to ray in.
Staying Composed. Honing this ability to act, and not merely react, is eminently practical. We don’t have to immediately accept or reject ideas, as people so routinely do (or expect us to do); rather, we can watch with interest whether or how ideas land within and give ourselves a fair chance to consider them. No matter what is happening out there, we remain inwardly free and poised, and from this place of presence can intuit what to do and how to be right now, in these circumstances, which are always in a state of flux. Puppetry calls us to be present, flexible, responsive, intuitive, creative, courageous, generous and collaborative; these are the very qualities all of humanity needs.
Self-Inquiry and the Balancing Act. As Steiner emphasized, freedom demands regular examination of our values, priorities and motivations, lest we slip back into believing we are freer than we actually are because we haven’t checked in with ourselves regularly enough to question any assumptions or rote ideas that may be unconsciously driving us. Puppetry can be a fruitful avenue toward maintaining or regaining balance because of all the ways it keeps us connected to imagination, intuition, inspiration and initiative—and supports us, and children, in being worthy I carriers.
The healing effects of puppetry are not exclusive to early childhood, of course. Older children can benefit, too, and as many grown-up puppeteers have attested, puppetry is a lifelong path of self-discovery. We are all still becoming.
The Greatest Remedy. Through all of the explorations that were part of this study, I have come to a more expanded understanding of what Steiner meant when he said that puppetry could be a remedy against the ravages of civilization. It is not so much about itemizing society’s ills and how puppetry might specifically help in each case. Rather, the greatest remedy of all is the general ability to think and act in freedom from this place of presence, of living thinking.
