Mini Monster Play Date

This weekend, we had a little play date with our cousins (actually this whole month could be considered an extended play date, as we have had the kids together most days).

I found these great posts about monster play dates and decided to use them as a springboard.  First is this monster play date from Oopsey Daisy.  Second, is this monster lesson plan from Mrs. Home Economist.  There is some seriously good stuff there!

To start any good activity, you know I need some books.  Here are my monster book picks:

My Monster Mama Loves Me So by Laura Leuck

Sweet rhyming story about why a monster mama loves her child.  Be sure to look for the hidden items in each picture.

Monster Math by Anne Miranda

One little monster is having a birthday party.  Watch as the party grows, by ones, then by tens as more monsters join in on the fun.

Jeepers Creepers A Monstrous ABC by Laura Leuck

A silly alphabet adventure with 26 colorful monsters.  A fun little twist at the end of the story awaits.

Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberly

A great simple book to reassure little ones as they build a monster page by page, then watch the scary monster disappear one piece at a time.

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Classic story about a little boy Max, who is banished to his room for being too wild and his colorful imaginary (or was it real...) journey to the land of the wild things.

There was an Old Monster by Rebecca Emberly

A fun twist on the I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly story, only this time with a crazy critter eating monster.

Here are the activities that we did after our stories.

Monster eye sorting

I found the sorting cards here.  The kids had fun sorting the colored eyes onto the monsters.  I will mix the eyes into a big ball of playdough like Alison did next time.   I think my boys would have fun playing with the playdough and creating crazy monsters with it.

Monster candy bracelets

I found this candy jewelry kit on clearance after Halloween.  The boys had fun stringing on the candy beads and eating their monstrous creations afterwards.

Additional Ideas

I also found this monster coloring page from Ed Emberly's website that would be fun to color.  

There is also a flannel board pattern to recreate the big green monster on Making Learning Fun.

Making Learning Fun has a bunch of literature based monster activities as well.

1+1+1=1 has a Monster tot book printable.

File Folder Fun has a great Monster Manners game.  

linking here

and here