Living Puppets hand puppet Snäppa the perch

Green scales with orange fins, a broad grin and eyes that look in every direction: the Snäppa the Perch hand puppet by Living Puppets is a fish you can tell enjoys a splash. On the puppet stage Snäppa likes to comment on events, in the reading corner he asks questions back, and in projects about ponds, lakes and rivers he takes the lead. As a native freshwater fish he pairs well with a trip to the water — what is swimming here, and what does it live on? In language work, a hand puppet helps reticent children start talking in the first place.

The mouth works on the fold-open principle. The hand opening sits on the belly and is reached from behind, below the tail fin, so children and adults alike can guide Snäppa securely.

The European perch carries the scientific name Perca fluviatilis and belongs to the true perch family. It lives across almost all of Europe in both still and flowing water, avoiding heavily silted shallows. Six to eight dark vertical bars mark its flanks, and the lower fins shimmer reddish. Adults usually reach twenty to forty centimetres. Young fish feed on small crustaceans and insect larvae, while older ones hunt other fish.

Did you know that young perch travel in schools of several hundred while older ones tend to keep to themselves? When hunting together they drive their prey into shallow water on purpose. In 2023 the European perch was named Fish of the Year in Germany.