Puppets play an important role in a child’s everyday play. Through activities with puppets, a teacher can enrich the content of the lesson and stimulate the child’s creativity, and thus their psychophysical, emotional, social and cognitive development. In this paper, we present the results of the impact of using puppets in class on the spontaneous play of children in extended school stay. We conducted the research in a combined class of first and second grade students in a regional school in Slovenia. We monitored children’s spontaneous play before and after the inclusion of puppets and puppet activities in the lesson. We wanted to find out the impact of the regular inclusion of puppet activities in the lesson and teaching with puppets on children’s spontaneous play in extended school stay. The results of the research show that before the inclusion of puppets and puppet activities in the lesson, children did not have animated toys or play materials. Construction play dominated. After the inclusion of puppets and puppet activities in the lesson, we noticed changes in children’s spontaneous play in extended school stay. Students often used puppets and included them in everyday activities. Playing with dolls allows for greater creativity, participation, and connection between students in a combined class.
