This thesis examines the puppet as a motivational and didactic tool in the implementation of an educational program for preschool children in a museum. The theoretical section presents museum education as an independent professional discipline, its development, and the role of the museum educator and preschool teacher in planning and conducting a museum visit. A section of the thesis is devoted to the characteristics of preschool children, particularly play and symbolic play as fundamental developmental activities of this period, as these enable children to explore the world around them through imagination and direct experience. The following section provides a detailed presentation of the puppet, its origins, types, methods of working with it, and its pedagogical and didactic value, while also highlighting the role of the educator, who brings the puppet to life and uses it to establish communication with child.
The empirical section presents the implementation of the museum program »From the Pile Dwelling to the City Centre« at the City Museum of Ljubljana, in which the hand puppet Bruno the Shoemaker was introduced as a new character. The program was conducted with two groups of preschool children, and their responses were documented through observation, video footage, evaluation questionnaires completed by the participating professionals, and an analysis of the children's drawings created after the program concluded. The findings indicate that the puppet stimulated strong motivation in the children, as well as spontaneous verbal and nonverbal responses and a desire for direct contact with puppet. The results indicate that, in a museum setting, the puppet can serve as the central unifying and motivational element of the program, enabling preschool children to experience the museum as a comprehensible, entertaining, and interesting space.
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