Puppets on the stage

Cultural heritage connects Europe through our common history and values. It also represents the richness and diversityof our cultural traditions. We need to understand, use and appreciate our cultural heritage. However, we should not thinkof cultural heritage as merely a legacy from the past. Our cultural heritage supports us to advance and design our future.(The European Commission) Puppet characters can be shown as an example of cultural heritage. Puppets have beenused in every period to portray the characteristics of the given era. Educational and Teaching 2020 strategy aims tosupport the development of education and learning systems of the Member States. Increasing the quality and productivityof Education and Learning is one of the four main objectives of the Strategy. These inanimate beings, which are fun andinteresting for children and adults, are transformed into valuable educational materials when properly prepared and used.Puppets are often animated by children and sometimes the teacher can use a puppet as a storytelling tool. Puppetactivities provide a great deal of help to educators to get important information about children.The project has been planned on the basis of a needs analysis. A data collection questionnaire on puppet use in preschool education has been conducted. Does puppet drama support pupils' ability to understand and listen? The answerto this question has been 100 percent yes. It turns out that the ratio of teachers in favor of puppet activities is fiftypercent. The importance of puppetry in preschool education has been assessed by a SWOT analysis.As kindergarten is the first step of the academic education it's also quite important build good relationship during thoseyears to prevent early school tackling. is one of our projects initial prorities.Strengthening the profile of the teaching professions,Promoting a comprehensive approach to language teaching and learning (in line with the Council Recommendation onlanguage teaching and learning), building on the increasing linguistic diversity in schools, for example by: encouragingearly language learning and awareness;Developing high quality early childhood education and care systems (in line with the ECEC Council Recommendation)are the other priorities stated on the Erasmus+ programme guide and we are working on in our project.here are teobjectives related to our prioritiesThe main objectives of our project;1-Generate awareness about the importance of European heritage, introduce, share and regenerate joint country puppetcharacters as cultural heritage2- Get together on a common inter-cultural platform and integrate puppets of the world countries into the curriculum ofschools through a literature study3- Contribute to the enrichment of the professional development and foreign language skills of the school teachers ofproject partner schools4- Interdisciplinary pedagogical dialogue, collaborative education practices, promoting values of participation andtolerance5- Strengthening the European dimension of project partner schools and international recognition6- Workshop studies to make existing puppet products with solid and permanent materials, to reveal new products witheco design7- Develop the creativity and manual skills of students by contributing to their social emotional and languagedevelopment with student activities8. Imroving pupils' atistic skills and creativityThe partners are comprised of kindergartens and elementary schools while the schools consist of students of the sameage. They use materials related to the project theme in their class. Project puppet characters attract the attention of allpartners. The participants in the project are highly motivated teachers and students who are social, instructive, confident,collaborative as well as principals. A strong communication has been established with project partners through eTwinning online meetings, WhatsApp and e-mail. Project activities will include slide presentations, video demonstrations, live performance demonstrations, seminars, practical training exercises, puppet-based workshops. Project activities willalso include observation, play, drama, practice, questioning, questionnaire, anecdote, literature review, empathy, brainstorming, learning methods and techniques. The project will be explained with e-books, handbooks, promotionalbrochures, posters,A news text, educational plans, virtual and real exhibitions, project website updates blog pages, socialmedia accounts and cultural events to the public. World countries cultural heritage puppet characters handbook will beprepared in English. Every partner school will translate this handbook into its own language. Authentic, measurable,achievable, realistic activities and measurement and conclusion methods will be used.The use of puppets in the preschool period has a great impact on the on the development of children.