Puppets and the teddy bear phenomenan

It is a tough call when it comes to toddler programs--- to puppet, or not to puppet. With the pre-walkers it's OK to use puppets as long as they're not big and scary, or involve bugs. The pre-walkers can't walk over and pull the puppet off of the programmer's hand, nor can they run over and drool on it. However, if the puppet is too enticing, the toddlers will walk over and try to adopt it themselves. The way I get around this is I tell them they can line up and pet the puppet after the rhyme is over--- it's good, because they experience the puppet in a different way by touching it and realizing whether it's soft, tough, scaly, or feathery. Plus, I get to bond with them in a more personal way. However, this past week, I introduced a new puppet--- I called him Freddy the Teddy. It seemed innocuous enough. It is a teddy bear puppet, really soft, and really cute. The problem was it was a little too cute. The toddlers bum rushed me when I took it out and it was almost a melee before I told the children the teddy needed to take a nap. The pre-walkers weren't much better. They cried when I moved the teddy bear away from them. The moral of the story is--- puppets are great, when the balance is right. They can't be big because they'll scare the children, and they can't be too cute or the children will want to take them home.