Posted in Reviews

About the service:  Hi everyone!  Today I have an new service to tell you about.  It's called puppetools. 

Puppetools is basically a website put together by Jeffrey Peyton for the purpose of what I would call the advancement of "puppet culture."  Okay, that sounds a bit wierd, but that is pretty much exactly what it is.  Peyton's theory is that children learn best by play and that puppets are the perfect means to get them playing, and in doing so, learning.  The idea is that kids, even teens, will see things in a whole new light and will even open up in incredible new ways when puppets are introduced into their lessons.

I looked all over the website and here is what I found.  First, there is a lot of information about the need for play in today's educational system.  Of course, as homeschoolers, we are not part of that system.  Personally, I think my kids probably have a lot more time to play than the average public school kid.  Still, I have to admit, I don't incorporate play into my lessons as often as I should. 

The other thing I found were lots of ideas for puppets made out of heavy construction paper.  First, there are directions for making a "hinge."  The hinge is the base of all the puppets on the site.  It is basically the mouth, and the rest of the puppet is built around it.   While there are lots of ideas and templates, Peyton strongly encourages parents and teachers to come up with their own ideas.  I did a simple Google search and found tons of ideas for puppets made from not only paper, but material, socks and more.  (That being said, I suppose you could just Google puppets without being subscribed to puppetools.)

There are also forums for people to share stories about how they are using puppets in their own classrooms and homes, and lots of videos of puppets in use.  This might be the best part of the service.  While you might already be convinced that puppets are a great learning tool, and while you can find lots of puppet making information on the internet, sometimes you just have to see how someone else does something to really get the feel of it.

What are the pros of this service?

Well, as I stated above, if you are into puppets and want to incorporate them into your lesson plans, this is a good place to "hang out" and get ideas and/or templates for your own puppets. 

Here's the company's list of the benefits of subscribing:

Subscription Details

* 1 year to train and master Puppetools - the "Language of Play"

* Access Puppetools' online Educator Work Area

* Access Puppetools' exclusive practitioner video library

* Access extensive research on play and education

* Access hundreds of puppet images, concepts, and patterns

* Access readings from the 200 page Puppetools Manual

* Access our global community forums - learn with teachers around the world

* Put Puppetools to work in just days--for many it's just overnight

* Learn fast, flexible puppet design and construction--in just minutes

* Discover how a single paper hinge creates a limitless resource

* Engage playful, energized conversation for lessons and activities /all grades

* Use puppet know-how and techniques without acting, scripts, or theater

* Effectively harness Play and spark motivation, participation, and receptivity

* Discover the deep impact of play on students and teachers

What's not to like?

I think the site could be organized a little better.  Also, it seems that once you are convinced that puppets are the answer to getting your kids excited about learning, there is not all that much there to make it worth paying for.  However, if you are creatively challenged, it might be worth it to subscribe to puppetools to get some ideas and maybe brainstorm with some other parents and teachers about ways to use play in your homeschool.

The Crazy Mom take:

I have to be honest and say this is not something I would use.  My kids have made puppets before with things like paper bags and socks (boy do we have a supply of unmatched socks!) and have enjoyed it, but I can't imagine myself using them all that often in my lesson plans.  I am not that fun, I guess!  LOL  I spent quite a bit of time looking at the website, and I just never got drawn in.  You might not be like me, though, and you may find great value in puppetools.  Now that I've told you a little bit about it, I think you should simply check it out yourself!

I'm going to give this products 2 1/2 out of 5 smileys. 

 1/2*

I am going to explain this rating.  I normally don't give half smileys, because, well, you can't make half a smiley, and most products simply fall into one category or another.  I went back and forth on this one.  I did not feel puppetools would do much to enhance my homeschool.  I don't think it would for a whole lot of people, but somehow, I think it deserved more than two smileys.  There is a lot of information there, and lots of cool puppet ideas and I would not want to keep someone from at least checking it out.  So...

What's the bottom line?  *TWO TYPES OF SUBSCRIPTIONS*

*1) $20.00 INDIVIDUAL SUBSCRIPTION:* Designed for individual users. Get complete access to all resources for a full year. Upgrade to the group subscription any time for $79.00. Ideal for individual users/households.

*2)* *$99.00 GROUP SUBSCRIPTION (Habitat): *Designed to be shared among small & large GROUPS such as families, home schoolers, classrooms, scout troops, 4-H, entire schools, and non-profit organizations with educational missions. This is the best way to derive the greatest benefit as the group subscriptions as up to 30 people can share the cost and enjoy the ride. Need access for more users? No Problem -- you can simply add more users anytime in lots of 50 or 100 and the cost can be as low as $2.00 PER USER. The purchaser (account owner) may assign up to 15 administrators per account --all users receive access to all resources for a full year.

Check it out!  http://www.puppetools.com

See what my fellow TOS Crew members have to say @ http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/620634/

*The Smiley System: 

I can't really recommend this product.

 I doubt this product would be helpful to many people.

 This is a good product, but isn't right for everyone.

 Most homeschool moms will find this useful.

 This is great, and I would recommend it to anyone!!!