monster moments with the GRANDS!

Our Grand Lives
1 day ago
9 min read

Thursday, October 23, 2025

October is the perfect time

for a little monster-sized fun!

Don’t you agree?

Some of the best memories are made when imaginations run wild,

especially with Littles by your side!

Today, we’ve got a playful way to embrace this season

while making memories that will last long after all the Halloween candy is eaten!.

In today’s post, Laura shares our October choice for

Our Monthly Story Time!

(Can you guess what it might be about? Hmmm!)

We’ve included a fun way for your Littles to retell the story,

over and over again!

Plus, we’ve got a few monstrous crafts and snacks to add to the moment, as well!

It’s time to grab your favorite little monsters,

get cozy, and get ready for a GRAND time

filled with stories, smiles, and a whole lot of friendly fun.

It’s probably no surprise to anyone reading this, but…

we ❤️ to read with our Littles!

In fact, as retired kindergarten teachers, we may be a bit biased,

BUT

we can’t think of a better gift to give our Littles - any Little -

than time spent reading with them!

That’s one of the reasons we decided to choose

a favorite children’s book and author to focus on each month.

Today, we’ve got our third selection,

and we’re so excited to share it with you all!

Earlier this fall, to kick-off this regular feature,

we shared The Kissing Hand!

It was the perfect way to celebrate “Back to School” season with our Littles!

Then, in September, we highlighted Ten Apples Up On Top!

We counted our way through this silly stacking adventure!

If interested, tap on the links above for more info about these books

and details about the projects we shared for each!

And now, our choice for OCTOBER….

Go Away, Big Green Monster!

This interactive story, written and illustrated by Ed Emberley,

let’s children scare away their bedtime frights

and it’s silly fun for Halloween and every other day of the year!

Each October, this classic book by Caldecott winner, Ed Emberley, was a favorite story I’d read in my kindergarten class. (And it was a great way to review our “Sound of the Week,” the letter M, too.) My students loved the vibrant colors as they’d watch the Big Green Monster grow before their very own eyes! Then, when we were ready to show that monster who was in charge, we’d turn the remaining pages and watch that big green monster disappear!

I loved this book for so many reasons! The kids LOVED retelling the story over and over which built memory and sequencing skills! As they became more familiar with the story, they’d use such expression when retelling it in their own words! And, of course, one of my favorite things about this story is that it gave my kindergartners the chance to face their emotions through play and imagination and to realize that we all have similar fears!

After rereading the story during class, we’d make our own “storytelling kits” of the book, so that the kindergartners could go home and retell it to their families!

During a recent visit, Laura and Little L had fun

reading and then retelling this story!

I’ve been waiting a long time to enjoy this story with Little L!

The time had finally come!

Reading the Story Over and Over Again!

Little L and I enjoyed this story several times over the long weekend!

At first, I read it straight through, using my voice to add expression!

As Little L became familiar with the story,

we’d read the pages together or we’d echo read

(I’d read, then she’d repeat)

Finally, we’d take turns reading pages!

Before long, Little L was “reading” her book to others!

I was tickled to see her doing so with such expression!

Retelling the Story… Our Storytelling Kit!

This project was simple to create with a room full of kindergartners

and equally so with my Little L!

After reading (and rereading) Go Away, Big Green Monster!,

we got to work creating our own Big Green Monster!

Supplies Needed: colored construction paper (green, yellow, turquoise or blue, red, white and purple), a black crayon or marker, scissors, a big Ziploc bag

To begin, we looked at the book

and then cut out matching pieces as they were introduced in the story!

two big yellow eyes

(we added black eyeballs to the center of each with a crayon or marker),

a long bluish-greenish nose,

a big red mouth with sharp white teeth,

two little squiggly ears

(we made these to match the color in the book)

scraggly purple hair

and a

big scary green face!

GO AWAY, BIG GREEN MONSTER!!!

Once all the pieces were cut out, we put them in the Ziploc bag! During this time, I had the chance to learn a little more about Little L’s bedtime fears and she discovered that, I too, had been scared of the dark and what I couldn’t see when I was little! It was a sweet conversation!

We were ready for Little L to retell the story!

NOTE: To make things easier, we decided to start and end with the big green scary face so that Little L had a base to build off of! This worked very well!

Retelling the Story! Little L used the book and her storytelling kit to retell the story to me, to herself and then to anyone else eager to listen!

At 3 ½ years old, Little L was telling the story from beginning to end,

first building her big green monster and declaring in her strongest voice,

YOU DON’T SCARE ME!

Then, as the story continued, she took away the pieces,

finally announcing,

AND DON’T COME BACK UNTIL I SAY SO!

Little L and I also listened to this Youtube version of the story.

(Tap on the link above the image to listen to the story!)

Later, we listened to this musical version, too!

This was especially fun when Little L knew the story well

and she could add and/or take away pieces quickly!

Another favorite is by Ed Emberley, too,

Glad Monster! Sad Monster!

Little L was so intrigued with this book where she discovered that these monsters - like people - have all kinds of feelings! Glad, sad, silly, mad! Our Littles tried on lots of funny masks (included with the book) as they explored them all!

And, of course, no Monthly Story Time post would be complete

without us sharing a few additional titles we simply love!

How to Catch a Monster

The Great Monster Hunt

Monster Trouble!

and, an oldie but a goody… Our ALL TIME favorite from way back when!

The Monster at the End of This Book.

Don’t forget that the library is a great resource

for finding these titles, and more!

And, while our preference is ALWAYS to

snuggle up and read a good book together,

viewing these stories on Youtube is also a worthwhile option!

HAPPY READING!

During our weekend together,

I had a few more MONSTER inspired projects up my sleeve,

and each of these activities made our story extra special!

Playdough Monsters!

For this activity, I set up a tray with three balls of colored play dough and some bowls of googly eyes, pipe cleaners (I cut them into smaller pieces), pom poms and beads. Other items that would be fun to include are toothpicks, feathers, plastic teeth, yarn and dry pasta!

Then, I simply let my Littles’ imaginations soar!

Look at our friendly monsters!

If you’ve got school-age Littles, they will love making playdough monsters, too. However, below is one more idea I had hoped to do with a few older Littles I love this past weekend. We ran out of time when we were together, but I definitely felt that this project was worth sharing!!

Balloon Squish Monsters from Mas & Pas, use very few ingredients (balloons, flour, permanent markers and yarn) and look simple to complete! As an added bonus, older Littles will have fun squishing and squeezing these homemade monsters… GRANDS will find themselves loving these squishy monsters, too! You’ll find the directions from their site here..

Let us know if you give these a try!

Edible Monsters!

Okay! We love a meal or snack idea with a theme

and so do Laura’s Littles!

Check out these MONSTER inspired dishes!

Monster Pizzas!

These made for a simple lunch, yet oh so delicious, and could easily be personalized, too! We spread pizza sauce on English muffins and then topped with shredded mozzarella cheese. To make monster eyes, we put two olive slices on top of two pepperoni slices!

We cooked them in our air fryer at 370 degrees for 3-4 minutes, until the cheese melted and the pizzas were warmed through! Watch closely!

Rainbow Monster Pudding Cups!

For dessert one evening, our Littles wanted to make friendly Rainbow Monster Pudding Cups! However, if your Little wants a scary monster or a big green one, simply adjust the recipe to fit your needs!

All you’ll need are some plastic cups (one for each pudding cup), a black permanent marker, a box of vanilla pudding (and the ingredients to complete the recipe on the box) and a few Oreo cookies that you’ve crumbled in a small Ziploc bag.

We followed the directions on a box of Instant Vanilla Pudding. While the mixture was thickening, we used the permanent black marker to make a monster face on the outside of each plastic cup and set them aside. To make the “rainbow,” we divided the thickened pudding into three equal portions and added a different color of food coloring to each. Then we layered the three colors into the plastic cups. Each monster face emerged! We topped the pudding layers with Oreo cookie crumbs!