It's pretty amazing how different puppets can be. The bodies are usually cloth, with holes for the arms. The puppeteer usually puts one or two fingers in the head, and the thumb and another finger in the arms. Bill Eklund Many of the puppets used in European folk stories were hand puppets. Like finger puppets, the small size and easy manipulation of hand puppets make traveling around with a one-person puppet show pretty easy.
Rod puppets are a lot like hand or glove puppets, with a hollow body and no mouth movement.
But instead of fingers in the head and arms, there are wooden or metal rods. This allows them to be a little bit larger, and to move in more ways. It also makes them somewhat harder to work. Rod puppets are very common in Eastern Europe, Africa, and Vietnam. The puppets are attached to long bamboo rods and appear like magic from the water, the flip or dance and splash around.