We’ve made monsters “silly” a few times so far this October – it’s the first year that Travis has really been cognizant of monster decorations around Halloween, and he’s starting to feel a little afraid of them. The sillier and more fun we can make monsters seem, the better!

To prepare the project, pour a little tempera paint into cups, and thin each cup with water, one spoonful at a time. You want each batch of paint to have the consistency of cream.

I placed construction paper and the paint cups on the floor (cover your work surface, things are about to get messy!) and invited Travis over. We used dark construction paper as the background for a Halloween feel, but white or any other color would work just as well.

Spoon some of the paint onto your paper, then cut straws in half, and get down low to blow out the shapes of your monsters.

Travis soon decided he didn’t love the blowing part of the project, but he loved spooning blobs down, and then watching our creatures appear.

“Don’t forget here!” he would instruct, pointing to a thicker portion of paint.

We decided the white blobs were “baby bear monsters.”

Once the paint dries, finish your new silly friends with a glue stick and eyes. I always seem to be out of googly eyes these days, but mini pom poms did in a pinch.

Spooky, not scary!