The Hungry Monster Game DIY

Make learning letters and numbers fun with this DIY game and the My First Letters and Numbers Kit! With a cardboard box and some basic art supplies, you can make your own Monster Matching game. The My First Letters and Numbers Kit has everything you will need to play a variety of games to practice different letter and number skills. Read below to learn how to create and play with your monster!

Materials Needed: 

• My First Letters and Numbers Kit
• A cardboard box
• Scissors
• Washable Paint Set
• Paintbrush
• Hot glue gun

Instructions: 

Step 1

Cut your pieces! Begin by cutting the flaps off of one side of your cardboard box. Save these cardboard pieces! Next, cut a mouth in the front of your box, similar to how you would carve a Jack-o-lantern mouth. Using the cardboard from the side pieces you removed, cut out two eyes, two ears, and some teeth for your monster. 

Step 2

Use your hot glue gun to glue the eyes, ears, and teeth onto your monster face in the locations where you want them to be. Then, use washable paint to paint your monster box.

Step 3

As a finishing touch, you can use your hot glue gun to glue some of the fuzzy sticks from the My First Letters and Numbers Kit around the edges of your monster’s eyes, mouth, and ears. 

How To Play Monster Matching

You could play so many different games with your monster box and the letter and number cards in the My First Letters and Numbers Kit. Each of the game ideas I am sharing today will help your child practice a different learning goal (goals are included in parentheses next to each option)! 

Here are a few different ways you can play with your box: 

Option 1 (Number recognition)

Have your child roll two regular dice. Once they have rolled, they can count the number of dots on the dice and find the number card with the matching number. They can feed this card to the monster by placing it into his mouth and then roll again!

Option 2 (Letter recognition)

Place all of the alphabet cards face down in a pile. Your child pulls a card, says the letter name (or sound). If they get it right, they can feed it to the monster! If not, put it back in the pile to try again.

Option 3 (Counting to a number)

Place the number cards face down in a pile. Provide a pile of fuzzy sticks from the box. Your child will pull a card from the pile, read the number, and then count out that many fuzzy sticks to feed to the monster!

Option 4 (Letter sounds)

Place the alphabet cards face down in a pile. Your child will pull a card and read the letter. Next, they have to search the room for an object that begins with that letter/sound to feed the monster!

Option 5 (Letter/number formation)

Place all of the cards face down in a pile. Your child pulls a card and then uses the fuzzy sticks to build that letter or number. Once they create it, they can feed it to the monster!