READ + CREATE: Monster Craft

READ + CREATE: Monster Craft

It’s that time of the year when monsters get their chance to shine.
We’re all for friendly and funny monsters around here. This monster craft involves lots of fine motor fun, descriptive language and mixing and matching.

READ: I Want To Be In a Scary Story by Sean Taylor and Jean Jullien  (This is an affiliate link. Thanks for your support.)
Or any book featuring monsters!

CREATE: Mix and Match Salt Dough Monsters

What you will need for this monster craft:

A batch of salt dough
Play dough cutters of different shapes and sizes
Paint (we used acrylic)

There are approximately a bazillion recipes on the Internet for salt dough.
I just use this salt dough recipe.

Once you’ve rolled out your dough, use your cutters to create pieces of different shapes and sizes.
We used different round containers to create indents into the “faces.”
Pop them in the oven.
The key is to do a slow, long bake on a low temperature. You’re drying them out- not cooking them.
(I tell you this because I couldn’t figure out why mine were turning brown at the start of my salt dough career.)

Once your pieces have cooled down, bring out the paints!
Paint your pieces in different colours. Use markers to add details.

Once dried, it’s time to get your monster mash (up) on.

This activity is great for encouraging descriptive language use. Encourage your child to describe the shapes they are using. They can describe the monster they have created. They can develop a persona for their monster.

When the monster mash has finished, store all the pieces in an airtight container ready for another session of mixing and matching.

After some more monster crafts? Here’s a mix and match monster craft project with paper!

I designed this monster mask in a paid partnership with Pilot Pen Australia. Head to their site to download it for free.

Mix and Match Monster Art for Kids

Mix and Match Monster Art for Kids

A monster art for kids using watercolours and collage to create mix and match monsters. The process to create the monsters is super fun.Mr 2 is currently having a love affair with “monners.”
Translation: monsters.
He also, like most toddlers, has a love affair with glue sticks.
So, I set up this monster art invitation to create.
This is a simple collage activity to make your own mix and match monsters.

make your own mix and match monsters.Have you ever used colour diffusing paper?
It’s magical stuff!
The lovely folk at Cleverpatch recently gave us some colour diffusing paper and a set of their amazing liquid colours.
As a teacher, I’ve been using Cleverpatch products in my classrooms for years.
I’m super lucky to have Cleverpatch on board as Product Sponsor for my Christmas eBook.
(Oh, Spoiler Alert- I’m working on a Christmas eBook! To be the first to preview it, be sure to sign up to my newsletter.)

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Back to this project…

What You’ll Need:

Colour diffusing paper
Liquid watercolours
Paintbrush
Glue
Scissors
Paper / Cardboard

How to create your own monster art for kids:

Experiment with placing colour onto your diffusing paper with your liquid watercolours.
If you place your colours close together, you will get a rad bleed effect.
If you leave white spaces between your colours, the result will be a more tie-dyed effect and less vibrant.

Once your page is filled with colour, lightly spray the paper with water.

Leave your page to dry for a few hours. The colours will continue to diffuse.

Once dried, cut regular and irregular shapes for monster bodies.
Cut out horns, eyes, mouths…. whatever tickles your fancy.

Set these various body parts out for your little monster and let them go wild mixing and matching their monsters.
We just glued all our monster parts to cardboard with a glue stick.

You could cut your wild things out and make bunting or puppets.

Mr 2 dubbed this one “Potato Monner.”

Need some more monster art for kids? Try these mix and match salt dough monsters.

A monster art for kids using watercolours and collage to create mix and match monsters. The process to create the monsters is super fun.

Check out the magical process.