Monster Pretend Play

by Kim Wallace

You may be weary to introduce your young child to monster play, and that's understandable! I'm going to share a story about why we can normalize monsters for our children.

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Written by Kim Wallace

When my son turned 4 he was all of a sudden afraid of everything. Afraid to be alone, afraid to go to the bathroom by himself (in our own home) and I tried everything I could think of to help him and nothing worked. It was just getting worse. I told him over and over again I would never put him in an unsafe position. When I couldn't think of anything else to do, I took to a mom group and asked for advice. Lots of moms chimed in with what seemed to be good advice. Then someone told me to stop invalidating my son and to stop telling him there were no monsters. To him the monsters were real. Of course I immediately thought she was crazy. How could I tell him the monsters were real? Then he'd be more afraid! She went on to tell me to engage with him about it and ask him questions. What color are the monster's eyes? Did they have big green feet? or purple spots? I decided to have fun with it and give it a try. Well, it worked, almost immediately. He loved that I talked about the monsters in that way! It brought him joy and peace that I stopped telling him they weren't real. So, if you're having this trouble or something like it try this out, you might be surprised at how well your child will respond to it. The most important piece to this is validate your child. Ever wonder why all the characters on Sesame Street are monsters? I think they knew what they were doing when they created them! So play with monsters, talk about them, show them different kinds, make it normal.

So, now let's get on to monster play!

Use Play to make monsters fun. Talk about how they can have so many eyes, and big long arms. Monsters are whatever you'd like them to be. Pay attention to your child's play they also may tell you what kind of monsters they imagine cause sometimes their words can't.

Practically Playing has a few fun monster printables and they can be found HERE

My boys had so much fun with Monster Make Over Salon!

We used play dough to make hair styles, practiced scissor skills by cutting their hair, and created different versions of monsters with the monster parts.

I put together these lists for you so that you can easily create a play that is filled with sensory and educational parts for your child. Utilize what's here to expand your play throughout the week. Make snacks, watch shows, play music or an audio book while they're playing to capture the whole experience.

Monster Play can be done all year long, it is not just a Halloween thing!

Books

Finds

Playfoam Pals Monster Party

Self Correcting Monster Puzzles

erfect for beginner puzzlers, they can't get them wrong!

Melissa and Doug Soft Bowling Set

We got this when my son was little and both of my children have played have gotten so much use out of it

Crate Creatures

I would consider this a type of sensory toy. It's interactive and you can pull it's tongue out. He comes with a lock, he vibrates, he makes noises and he's got different textures all over.