Go Away Big Green Monster

If you've not yet met the book Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberly, you really need to check it out!

The children love the simple text, and cut out pages that allow big green monster to appear - and disappear, one feature at a time.

I saw this idea in Mailbox Magazine around 2001, and have done it with my kiddos every year since.

We start with a heavy piece of white paper, folded in half.  I add a dab of paint on the crease, and the kiddos close the fold and rub rub rub to spread the paint.

When they open it back up, there's a marvelous and symmetrical green blob - the start of our monsters.

I offer precut features, and the children put them into the wet paint as we retell the story together.

It is a very simple activity, but one the children remember from year to year, and are eager to do again.

So I have to wonder, what is it about this activity that so engages the children?

Ed Emberly's deceptively simple text certainly.  Even on a first read, the children can understand and predict the text, and by a second reading they are telling it along with me.

I think my favorite thing about this activity is how the same simple elements come together to create such different creations.

Each green monster has it's own personality, and is a unique creation, even as it shares it's features with all the others.

We love big green monster!

 If you're looking for more fun Halloween learning activities, you might like these treats from my TeachersPayTeachers store:

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