Want to get someone’s attention? Try using a puppet! Here’s a Puppetpower success story with adults – and then five tips for using puppets to teach safety skills to children.
About 20 years ago, I found myself standing on a stage in a huge hotel dining room in San Francisco looking down at hundreds of very officially dressed insurance professionals.
It was an honor to be a guest speaker at the annual luncheon for their charitable foundation, IICF, and I felt nervous about how to get their attention.
As I was being introduced, I saw my Duckie Puppet in my purse, took it with me to the podium, and said, “Thank you so much for your generous support! I just came from a Head Start program and want to show you how we teach young children to set boundaries on unwanted touch.”
I held Duckie high and said, “Imagine that your friend Duckie here wants to tickle you, and you don’t want to be tickled.” Everybody stopped eating, looked up at me, and smiled.
I had Duckie make tickling motions and say, “Tickle. Tickle. Tickle.”
I then said, “All of you, please put your hands up to make a fence, and say, ‘Please stop!” And they did, laughing and practicing with me how to persist in what to say and do when Duckie wouldn’t listen, got upset, and broke the safety rules.
I then went on to tell stories about how their grants were making it possible for Kidpower to provide vulnerable children and their adults with life skills that prepare them to stay safe.
After the program, a number of people came up to thank me, saying, “I wish I had had Kidpower as a child.” And, just as poignantly, “Even this little practice helped me to feel more confident about saying, ‘No!’ when someone makes me uncomfortable.”
Here are five Puppetpower tips we’ve learned in our decades of using puppets to teach kids – and adults – to stay safe.
1. ANYTHING you can move easily is a potential puppet
You can use a doll, a stuffed animal, a hand or finger puppet, a pine cone, a fork, a sock, your own hand, a cup, or a pen as a puppet.
2. Pick up or put your hand inside the puppet and make it come alive
Give the puppet a name and a voice. Look at the puppet when you are moving it, and have your face and voice reflect the emotions you want it to show. It is amazing how a few bits of cloth or a piece of metal seem like real characters when you make them move and speak.
3. Start your Puppetpower story by setting the stage
Use a simple example that is relevant for your audience. State where you are and who you are. Here’s an example for young children: “What if Duckie is having fun and does NOT want to leave the park. And I am Duckie’s grownup.”
4. Switch roles as you act out your Puppetpower story
Instead of explaining, use your puppet to help you SHOW the story with the life lesson you want to communicate. Hold your puppet so kids can see its body. Look at who you are talking with. For example:
Duckie playing happily at the park: “Dig.Dig. Diggity. Dig.”
You as Duckie’s Grownup: “Time to go home!”
Duckie getting upset and starting to run away, “NO! I will run away.”
You as Duckie’s Grownup, using your other hand to catch and hold Duckie: “Sorry. We’ll come back soon. You can help me make dinner.”
Duckie, struggling and angry: “Don’t grab me!”
You, hugging Duckie, and sounding full of love: “I am holding you to keep you safe.”
Duckie, crying: “”But I want to stay HERE!
You: “I understand. We had so much fun playing. I’m sad too!”
Duckie, calmer and curious: “Really?”
You: “Yes. I love playing with you. And, we need to go home and make dinner.”
You look at the watching children and ask: ‘What would help Duckie leave the park?”
Child: “Do just one last thing!”
Child: “Tell a story on the way home.”
You to children: “Good ideas!”
You to Duckie: “What do you think, Duckie!”
Duckie, sighing: “Okay. Can I go down the slide again?”
You, smiling: “Yes, one last time, and then we’ll leave.”
You to children and Duckie: “Thank you for helping us leave the park.”
5. Coach your audience to practice with you
Often parents really appreciate rehearsing what to say when their child starts to run away and gets mad when physically stopped.
And, a verbal toddler will enjoy helping you catch the runaway puppet, repeating the words,”I am holding you to keep you safe!”, and then giving ideas for how to leave.”
You can learn more about our workshops and other educational resources for educators, parents, health care providers, and caregivers of young children, by visiting kidpower.org/early-childhood.
Published: May 18, 2026 | Last Updated: May 18, 2026
Irene van der Zande, Kidpower Founder and Executive Director
Kidpower Founder and Executive Irene van der Zande is a master at teaching safety through stories and practices and at inspiring others to do the same. Her child protection and personal safety expertise has been featured by USA Today, CNN, Today Moms, the LA Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Publications include: cartoon-illustrated Kidpower Safety Comics and Kidpower Teaching Books curriculum; Bullying: What Adults Need to Know and Do to Keep Kids Safe; the Relationship Safety Skills Handbook for Teens and Adults; Earliest Teachable Moment: Personal Safety for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers; The Kidpower Book for Caring Adults: Personal Safety, Self-Protection, Confidence, and Advocacy for Young People, and the Amazon Best Seller Doing Right by Our Kids: Protecting Child Safety at All Levels.