Words & communication

Puppet hello

Use your bare hand as a tiny pretend character for a back-and-forth greeting.

5 minutes

What you'll need

No special materials

Before you start

Can attend to a shared object briefly

Best fit: either · calm energy · low caregiver effort · low mess

How to play

  1. Let your hand character say hello.
  2. Wait for any response.
  3. Copy your child's sound or movement before replying.
Make it easier

Keep the exchange to one wave and one sound.

Standard

Use your bare hand as a tiny pretend character for a back-and-forth greeting.

Extend it

Let your child invent a hand movement for your character to copy.

What you might notice

How many back-and-forth turns remain enjoyable.

Keep it safe

Use bare hands only, with no sock, glove, jewellery or detachable decoration. Keep movements gentle and away from eyes and mouth, stop if your child turns away or becomes distressed, and wash hands when needed.

Why it may be useful

This activity creates an easy moment for back-and-forth communication, shared attention and hearing useful words in context.

strong

Applies to caregiver-led language opportunities; it does not predict an individual child's language trajectory.

Jeong et al. (2021) — Parenting interventions to promote early child development in the first three years of life: A global systematic review and meta-analysis

Dowdall et al. (2025) — Home-based shared book reading and developmental outcomes in young children: a systematic review with meta-analyses

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