Role of the puppet and its importance for the daily routine and mutual relations in the kindergarten and at home

In the theoretical part of the thesis I present parts of the daily routine and the daily routine in the Curriculum for kindergartens. I describe the importance of the puppet in kindergarten for the child and the educator and explain the methods of working with the puppet in kindergarten. A puppet in the hands of a preschool teacher is a person who, on the first day of a child's arrival at kindergarten, helps to dispel the fear of separation and takes a friendly interest in the child's toys. Children calm down more easily and quickly with the puppet during quiet time and adopt hygiene and work habits more quickly. Children can use it to relieve anxiety, aggression and frustration. It helps them develop social-interaction skills, interpersonal relationships, cooperation and communication. The puppet was a means for the educator to achieve the child's goals in the field of socialization, skills (language, movement), acquisition of knowledge, work and hygiene habits, and is necessary for the quality of children's coexistence. The preschool teacher can use the puppet method to successfully include socially excluded children in the group. In the continuation of the empirical work, I will also present the project Dental mouse that I conducted in the Ringaraja group of one of the kindergartens in Grosuplje. The group included 9 boys and 10 girls aged three to four years. The study lasted six weeks. We learned about the experience and enjoyment of art, the development of expression and communication with art, and the development of creativity and specific artistic skills. As part of the project, we learned about the puppets and saw how the puppet was created during free play a group pet, namely the dental mouse, and observed the puppet's strength in the daily routine of eating, resting, and hygiene. We also observed the change in relationships and communication in the kindergarten with the arrival of a nurse, the painting of a mouse portrait, the revival of children's products and a puppet show, symbolic play and role play. I also involved parents in the project, observing their relationships at home and in the daily routine of children's hygiene at home. The purpose of the project was to determine the importance of including the puppet in the preschool teacher's daily routine and its role in relationships in the group and at home, and its role in group communication. I managed to get closer to the children with the puppet, I gained more authority. By using the puppet, the children accepted my instructions more and participated in the daily routine, as well as communicated more relaxed and calm in their relationships