The Kumquats hand puppets are a great support to speech therapists when working with children.
Remember, every child is unique and will reach their milestones in different ways and times. The language spoken at home and cultural norms can influence the way that we communicate.
For that reason we have developed our special hand puppets with teeth and a flexible tongue. They are a unique aid to demonstrate the mouth and tongue position. The tongue can be moved in between or behind the teeth. The child can follow the movement of lips and tongue and can copy the puppet. We have learned that kids are more likely to follow the instructions of a puppet than of an adult.
"Since August last year I have a little helper in my language and speech center. "Jim" Kumquats helps me to work with mentally disabled kids and he is wonderful. Especially when working with the little ones he is able to break down the barriers and connect to the kids. It makes my work much easier."
One day I was working with Lucca, a five year old boy and I had a hart time to somehow motivate him to play, but as soon as I took "Jim" he was a different person. He started to push and kick the puppet and was really excited to interact. I "Jim" started to cry and he looked up at me and was laughing. We did this two more times and it was amazing to see that Lucca was able to connect the dots - I kick this puppet and it starts to cry...and that is funny! So we finished our learning session by laughing at each other and I was so happy to get our relationsship started."
Elisabeth E., Speech Therapist