Emotional Responses to Various Digital Puppet Designs in Children’s Environmental Storytelling Sessions

This quasi-experimental study explored how different digital puppet character designs affect the emotional experiences of 5- to 6-year-olds during environmental storytelling sessions. The research focused on two emotional dimensions: pleasure and arousal. Thirty kindergarten students participated, interacting with five distinct digital puppet designs over five consecutive days. Each 10-minute session featured a unique story with a consistent environmental theme to maintain engagement. Children’s emotional responses were measured using the Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) questionnaire, which rates pleasure and arousal on a nine-point scale. Data were analyzed using ANOVA tests. Results showed positive mean scores for both pleasure and arousal across all puppet designs. No significant differences were found in emotional responses across designs, except for Wayang Kulit, which elicited significantly higher pleasure levels. These findings suggest that children respond positively to a variety of digital puppet designs when properly tailored to their preferences, highlighting the effectiveness of digital puppetry in environmental storytelling. This study emphasizes the potential of diverse digital puppet characters to engage young learners emotionally in educational content, particularly on environmental issues.