A puppet is an inanimate object or figure that is manipulated by at least one puppeteer. The puppeteer transforms the puppet into life by moving, talking and controling the puppet. Most puppets are made to imitate human behavior or characteristics. They can also be animals or objects. There are many different types of puppets that are made from different materials that depend on their form and intended use. They can be very detailed and complex in their design or relatively simple in construction.

Some examples of the different types of puppets are:

• Body puppets – the puppeteer is enclosed inside the puppet costume.
• Finger puppets – these are a simple smaller puppet that fits on one finger. These normally have no moving parts, and consist primarily of a hollow cylinder shape to cover the finger. They are used mainly in pre-schools or kindergartens for storytelling with young children.
  
• Hand or glove puppets – these are controlled by one hand which occupies the interior of the puppet.
  
• Sock puppet – particularly simple type of hand puppet made from a sock.
  
• Marionette – also known as string puppets. These puppets are suspended and controlled by a number of strings, plus sometimes a central rod attached to a control bar held from above by the puppeteer.
  
• Shadow puppets – these are cut-out figures held between a source of light and a translucent screen. Untypical, as it is two-dimensional in form, shadow puppets can form solid silhouettes, or be decorated with various amounts of cut-out details.
  
• Ventriloquist puppet – the puppets are operated by a ventriloquist performer to focus the audience’s attention from the performer’s activities and heighten the illusions.
  
  
  

Each type of puppet can become unique character by the way they are made, the voice give to it and the puppet script that is written to tell its story.

If you are wanting to put on a puppet show yourself you can make your own puppets or shop from the many sites online that sell all types of puppets to fulfill your needs. There are tips and how to’s to write your own script as well as ideas to building or creating the perfect stage or theatre setting.