Positive development of social interaction in preschool education is very important for the child's further interaction in society. This thesis introduces several group activities with puppets to reinforce the relationship between the children. They communicate with the puppets much easier and trust them, as they find it as an equal in size and self.
The theoretical part, which is divided into three chapters, focuses on the children's game and the social development of older preschool children from 4 to 6 years old. They undergo comprehensive development, as physical, psychological and socially, through playing. Their games bring them joy, it is an activity, encouraged by inner motivation, while each game includes covert education to prepare the child for the outside world. The third part describes puppets and their use in preschool education. A puppet is an excellent assistant in every group – the child feels equal to the puppet, inducing trust and belief. The teacher can use this method to get close to the child and assist them in overcoming issues, dilemmas and frustrations.
The empirical part introduces activities, which was performed in a kindergarten with various puppetry techniques and a puppet. The activities enabled us to get close to the children and assist them in learning social skills, to improve the group atmosphere and relationships among the children. The results show the children were more relaxed with the puppet, they were more open and communicated easier with the other children and the teacher. The key puppet of the group connected the children, assisted them in defining social relationships and developing prosocial behaviour.
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