Finger Puppets to Support Early Language Development: Effects of a Primary Care-Based Intervention in Infancy

Area of Science:

• Child Development
• Pediatrics
• Linguistics

Background:

• Early infancy verbal interactions are crucial for vocabulary development.
• Caregiver-child interactions significantly impact a child's developmental trajectory.
• Primary care settings offer opportunities for early intervention programs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of finger puppets in supporting caregiver-infant interactions.
• To determine if finger puppet use influences cognitive stimulation and parental involvement.
• To assess the feasibility of implementing a finger puppet intervention in primary care.

Main Methods:

• A cohort of infants received a finger puppet at two months of age.
• High dosage was defined as daily puppet use in the first two weeks.
• Outcome measures, including cognitive stimulation (StimQ-I) and parental involvement, were collected at six months.

Main Results:

• High-dosage finger puppet use was associated with significantly higher cognitive stimulation scores (P = .04).
• Parental Involvement in Developmental Advance subscale scores were also significantly higher in the high-dosage group (P = .03).
• The intervention demonstrated high participation (92%) and completion (80%) rates.

Conclusions:

• Finger puppets represent a low-cost, scalable tool to support early language and child development.
• Targeted, high-dosage use of finger puppets can positively influence key developmental indicators.
• Primary care-based interventions using simple tools like finger puppets are effective.