Feeding the Emotion Monster

This is an activity inspired by ‘The Colour Monster’ and the ‘Under the Love Umbrella’ and is a wonderful sensory activity to encourage children and preschoolers to learn and talk about their emotions.

Set up

For this activity I created a monster by cutting a rectangular shape out of the top of an egg box, covering it in orange paper and sticking on some paper eyes. I poured the sensory rice from our November Love activity in a bowl and we were ready.

I am a firm believer that children share more when their hands are busy and distracted. This is definitely the case for my son and while he fed his monster the ‘mixed up emotion rice’ I read pages from both ‘The Colour Monster’ and ‘Under the Love Umbrella.’

It’s really important to follow your child’s lead when talking about emotions and to share how you feel. Your child will look towards you for guidance and one of the best ways for children to learn about regulating their emotions is by watching and listening to their parents / carers. Don’t be scared to share and listen closely when your little one shares.