Most of us are familiar with marionettes and hand puppets, but we rarely think of shadow puppet theater when hiring a puppet show. These performances consist of shadows cast by puppets and cut-outs on a lighted screen, and originated in the Orient, particularly Bali.

Puppets make great educational toys for infants and toddlers, thus providing fun and learning in on fell swoop. Especially suitable are hand puppets, finger puppets, and even plain old sock puppets. These are both non-threatening and silly, a good combo for very small kids.

Specialty puppet shows often serve as tourist attractions for specific localities, so keep this in mind next time you're traveling. For example, Palermo, Italy hosts the International Puppet Museum, and Hanoi has a one-of-a-kind water puppet show.