A support program ‘Time for Tony the Turtle’ has been developed for young children residing in Dutch domestic violence (DV) shelters. With hand puppet ‘Tony the Turtle’, the program aims to develop self-regulation skills for children, while increasing the sense of safety and addressing children in a personal and playful way. As the use of the puppet is a distinct aspect of the program, this study aims to explore the experiences of children, mothers, and professionals with a hand puppet in three Dutch organizations providing shelter services. We conducted in-depth interviews with 11 children, 15 mothers, and 18 professionals involved in the program. We used thematic analysis for interpretation. We derived three themes from the interviews with the interviewees: ‘Tony is nice and funny’, ‘Tony is just like us’, and ‘Tony invites us to ask questions and give advice on sensitive topics’. Overall, the use of a hand puppet in DV shelters seems beneficial for children living in DV shelters. It offers a trusted figure who experienced similar things. Children can use the puppet to project their own problems onto and to find solutions for their problems and concerns, by advising the puppet and asking it questions.

已经为居住在荷兰家庭暴力 (DV) 庇护所的幼儿制定了一个支持计划“托尼乌龟的时间”。通过手偶“海龟托尼”，该计划旨在培养儿童的自我调节能力，同时增加安全感，并以个性化和有趣的方式对待儿童。由于使用木偶是该计划的一个独特方面，因此本研究旨在探索三个荷兰提供庇护所服务的组织中儿童、母亲和专业人士使用木偶的体验。我们对参与该计划的 11 名儿童、15 名母亲和 18 名专业人士进行了深入访谈。我们使用主题分析进行解释。我们从受访者的采访中得出了三个主题：“托尼很好很有趣”，“托尼就像我们一样”，和“托尼邀请我们就敏感话题提出问题并提供建议”。总体而言，在 DV 庇护所中使用手偶似乎对生活在 DV 庇护所的儿童有益。它提供了一个经历过类似事情的值得信赖的人物。儿童可以使用木偶向木偶提出建议并提出问题，从而将他们自己的问题投射到他们身上，并为他们的问题和担忧找到解决方案。