Hand puppets that tell stories
Hand puppets, finger puppets and Punch and Judy puppets from Folkmanis, Living Puppets, The Puppet Company, Hansa Creation and munabo – for home, playgroups, kindergartens, schools, therapy and Kasperli theatre.
I'm looking for something for …
Children & family
Extra-soft baby hand puppets from The Puppet Company for the very youngest
Playgroup & kindergarten
Living Puppets hand puppets for circle time and story time
Therapy & care
Joyk empathy dolls for care homes and dementia care
Kasperli theatre
Punch and Judy puppets for the puppet stage at home, at kindergarten and for fairy-tale plays
Our brands
Folkmanis, Living Puppets and The Puppet Company form the core of our hand puppet range.
Animals, monsters and people with big, expressive faces, plus characters from Sesame Street and Woozle Goozle.
MonstersAnimalsLarge human charactersSesame Street stars
Hedgehogs, foxes, owls and many other animals, closely modelled on the real thing, often with a movable mouth or beak →
Long hand puppets that cover the whole forearm, plus monsters and baby hand puppets for the very youngest →
Not sure which to choose?
Two questions – and we will show you matching characters from our range.
Which type would you like?
What kind of character?
Popular finger puppets: animals
Popular finger puppets: people
Popular finger puppets: fantasy creatures
Popular hand puppets: animals
Popular hand puppets: people
Popular hand puppets: monsters
Popular hand puppets: fantasy creatures
Popular stage hand puppets: animals
Popular stage hand puppets: fantasy creatures
Popular Punch and Judy puppets: animals
Popular Punch and Judy puppets: people
Popular Punch and Judy puppets: fantasy creatures
Finger puppet, hand puppet or stage hand puppet?
How a hand or finger puppet is played depends on how it is made. For hand puppets and Punch and Judy puppets, the product page lists what can be moved under ‘Playability’.
Finger puppet
Most sit on one finger. Several on one hand can tell a whole story – in finger rhymes, at circle time or when you're out and about.
Hand puppet
Your whole hand goes inside to work it. Depending on the model, the mouth or beak, head, arms or front legs can be moved.
Stage hand puppet
Worked from below like a Punch and Judy puppet, so it can be raised above the playboard. Without a stage, it plays like any other hand puppet.
Hand puppets, finger puppets, Punch and Judy puppets and soft dolls for Switzerland
Give a hand puppet a nod, a yawn or a funny face, and a child starts talking to it rather than about it. That is why hand puppets belong in the playroom just as much as in playgroups, kindergartens, schools and therapy rooms. daliono.ch stocks hand puppets by Folkmanis, Living Puppets and The Puppet Company, finger puppets by Folkmanis and The Puppet Company, Punch and Judy puppets by munabo for Kasperli theatre, and soft dolls by Rubens Barn and Joyk.
Finding the right hand puppet
If you want an animal that looks as true to life as possible, Folkmanis is usually the answer; on many of its hand puppets the mouth moves, and on some the front legs or head as well. Living Puppets go for big, expressive faces that show a feeling at a glance, and a few characters are made in several sizes. The Puppet Company’s long hand puppets reach up the whole forearm, and for babies the same maker offers especially soft hand puppets. Hansa Creation adds further animal hand puppets, and Kallisto makes hand puppets from organic cotton for anyone who prefers natural materials.
Children playing on their own often want a hand puppet they can cuddle too, so a soft one is a good choice. In a playgroup circle, a large character that every child can see works best. And for grandparents, a hand puppet is a present that joins in the fun on the very next visit.
Folkmanis →Living Puppets →The Puppet Company →Hansa Creation →Kallisto →Hand puppets for playgroups, kindergartens, schools and therapy
In kindergarten and the first years of primary school, some classes have a hand puppet of their own: it sits in the morning circle, waves the children off before the holidays and knows whose birthday it is. In speech and language work, the hand puppet is allowed to get a word wrong, so the child can put it right. Play therapy and special needs education use it so that a child can voice through the character what they are not yet ready to talk about themselves.
All hand puppets →Finger puppets for rhymes and small groups
Five fingers, five characters: with finger puppets, one hand can act out a whole finger rhyme. In a playgroup, each child gets an animal for their finger and the story is passed round the circle. Finger puppets from Folkmanis and The Puppet Company are easy to slip into a bag for a day out or a spell in the waiting room.
Folkmanis finger puppets →The Puppet Company finger puppets →Punch and Judy puppets for Kasperli theatre
Kasperli, Gretel, the grandmother, the robber and the policeman are familiar to many children in Switzerland. Kasperli theatre is the Swiss and German cousin of Punch and Judy. Most of our Kasperli characters come from munabo and are made in the Czech Republic, many of them by hand. A lot of them come in one size that fits children’s and adults’ hands alike. They are just as good for Kasperli theatre as for any other puppet theatre at home.
Punch and Judy puppets →Soft dolls, empathy dolls and soft toys
Rubens Barn soft dolls are designed in Sweden and come in several sizes, among them the handy Cuties and the large Original dolls. Joyk empathy dolls, also known as therapy dolls, are used in care homes and in dementia care: many people know from their own family what it is like to hold and look after a child, and the doll builds on that. There are also plush animals from Anima and Hansa Creation.
Soft dolls →Joyk empathy dolls →Anima soft toys →Hansa Creation soft toys →Not sure which character is right? Give us a call or write to us through our contact form, and we’ll help you choose.