We are working on emotions with my 2.5 yr old toddler and this book was such a great resource to teach J the different emotions, and the expressions that go with the emotions. The book is about a monster (friendly monster), caked the Color monster who had too many emotions all jumbled up when he wakes up, each emotion described by a different color. And a girl helps the color monster to identify and separate his emotions.
J loved this book so much and wanted to read it all the time. So I came up with a companion craft that we can use with him whenever we read the book. Things you need for this craft :
- Color monster book
- Color monster outline. You can find this here.
- two dice
- Felt material of different colors. I got a set earlier from Amazon.
- Craft sticks (or popsicle sticks)
- Fingerpaints
- A tray with raised edges
PART 1: MAKING THE COLOR MONSTER
The setup of the activity is pretty simple. Print and tape the color monster outline on a tray with raised edges. Space out drops of different colors of fingerpaints on the paper. Place the 2 dice on the tray. Guide the toddler to shake the tray, and thus the dice making random lines of different colors across the page. This will in the end look like the Color monster (the jumbled one) from the book.
PART 2: MAKING THE DIFFERENT EMOTIONS PUPPETS
Draw the color monster’s outline on a white construction paper and cut it out. Paste then together to create a pocket.
Draw and cut out all the color monsters on felt. You can make the expressions of the monsters similar to the ones in the book.
Hot glue the felt monsters to the craft sticks. Make sure the felt monsters are small enough to fit the pockets.
Insert all the felt monsters in the pockets. The companion craft is all set for your toddler to play with.
PART 3: STORY TIME WITH THE PUPPETS
Now for the fun part! Read the book with the toddler taking out the corresponding puppets as the story progresses. J wanted to do it all by himself after I showed him once. And he takes the book and the craft to use itbeverytime he reads the book. I think he knows the book by heart by now!
