The palate is the roof of a puppet’s mouth — the upper half of the mouth plateThe mouth plate is the rigid two-part structure inside a pup... More, sitting under the performer’s fingers.
It does more work than the jaw
In good lip syncLip sync is matching a puppet's mouth movement to speech so ... More the upper head stays anchored in space and only the lower jawThe jaw is the lower half of a puppet's mouth — the plate ... drops. That means the palate is the fixed reference the audience reads everything against. If it lifts on every word, the puppet appears to be gargling at the ceiling, and no amount of jaw technique rescues it.
Construction
Rigid board — poster board, chipboard or thin PVC — cut to the performer’s flat hand with the fingers together, then lined with feltFelt is a non-woven fabric made by matting fibres together u... More before the head goes together. Lining it afterwards means reaching into a finished head, which is a bad afternoon.
Colour
Traditionally dark red, maroon or black. A bright interior draws the eye into the mouth and, worse, reflects enough light to reveal the hand inside. Dark and matte reads as depth.
The overlap
Build the palate slightly larger than the jaw at the front so the lower plate tucks just inside it when closed. Plates that meet edge to edge leave the mouth permanently a little open, which is the most common beginner tell.
Curvature
A slight dome across the palate looks more organic than a flat plane and gives the fingers a more comfortable rest. Heat-formed PVC or EVA holds a curve well.
The hack: line the palate in the same felt as the jaw and gulletThe gullet is the throat area behind a puppet's mouth — th..., in one continuous colour. A visible seam or colour change inside the mouth reads as a construction join every time the puppet speaks.