Name Monster Puppets

In the mornings while I am getting the kids breakfast or feeding the baby they can get a little restless. I love it when I am organized enough to have a project set up for them the night before so that when they get up they can create and I can hear less arguing. 🙂

One morning earlier this week I just pulled some items out of my very messy craft cupboard and decided to use them to have the kids make a Name Monster Project.

Materials: googly eyes, foam base (we used small leftover foam Easter eggs), popsicle sticks, glue, alphabet stickers, ribbon, and scissors.

Open-ended activities like this are great for when I need the kids to create and have fun without tons of help. I still supervise, but since the materials aren't hard to create with, sometimes I can craft along with them or I can be doing the dishes... depending on the day.

The kids just covered their foam shapes with googly eyes and ribbon to make faces and then we added a little popsicle stick at the end so the monsters could be puppets.

My daughter has been practicing recognizing her name and making it with different materials while my son is currently learning to write his last name. Both kids put their names on their popsicles sticks. I wrote my daughter's name for her and then she matched stickers and then stuck them on top of my writing. My son practiced writing his own name (first and last) on the popsicle sticks with a marker.

Once they were done they stuck their foam monsters to their popsicle sticks with glue (I made one too).

Then we goofed around with our puppets and made up some monster stories.

If your kids like monsters, they could also try...

• Play-doh Monsters
• Purple People Eater
• Silly Magnet Monsters

We also have several other Name Crafts and Activities on our Name Crafts Pinterest Board.

What other name crafts or activities have you done to help your kids practice recognizing, spelling, and writing their names?

Do you have any other favorite monsters crafts? Please share them in the comments!