We’ve talked a little bit about the Best Preschool Curriculum and the supplies you need to have the Best Preschool, but today, we’re going to start a series of posts consisting of specific activities and games I feel are good assets to a play-based preschool. The first game is the Monster Chomp.
We got our Monster Chomp game in a busy bag swap we participated in a couple years ago. I have to say, it’s our most used item from that swap. Here’s the breakdown.
Monster Chomp: A Preschool Letter Game
Supplies
- An empty can (A coffee can works great. Something round with a lid you can put on.)
- Construction paper
- Markers
- Googly Eyes
- Glue
- Exact-O knife
Instructions
Cut one piece of construction paper to fit around the can and glue in place. Using an Exact-O knife, cut a mouth in your monster’s face. Then glue on eyes and decorate with the markers.
On another piece of paper, write each of the letters, upper and lowercase next to each other. Cut out your letters.
How to Play
I love this game so much because it is so easy to adjust to the age of your child. When the girls were really little, I would say, in my best monster voice, “I’m HUNGRY! I want a ‘J’ to eat!!” The girls would find the “J” card and feed it to the monster. This is the gist of how the game works. Here are some variations.
- Put out only a few cards for a younger child. If they only have four or five cards to look through, they’re less likely to get frustrated or to just guess at the right answer.
- Even for an older child, don’t put out ALL the cards. This just makes the game take too long and gets boring.
- Instead of your monster asking for letter names, have him ask for letter sounds. For example, “I’m hungry for the letter that makes the sound, sssssssssss!”
- Let your child be the monster and ask for the letter he wants. This is a big hit at our house and it’s so fun to hear the girls talk in their monster voices!
- Make numbers instead of letters and turn it into a math game. “I’m hungry for the sum of 4 and 5!!!”
- Play with your older and younger child together. Just tell them who each question is for. Kids love hearing their names in monster voices. 🙂
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