I loooooooove a good STEM project and book pairing. Today’s activity had both and did NOT disappoint. We read The Color Monster: A Pop-Up Book of Feelings by Anna Llenas and then made our own color monsters. This activity is fairly inexpensive if you hit up the dollar store, AND this activity provides a lot of rich STEM and social-emotional vocabulary. It’s a win-win!
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The Color Monster by Anna Llenas
Age: About 2+
Unique Feature: The interactive pages and pop-ups
This book is a great introduction to emotions. For that reason, it can be read with our youngest children. However, it does have many pop-up features that are easily ripped or destroyed. Therefore, you may want to ask yourself these questions: Do you want to read it to your children and keep it out of their reach when it is not being read? Do you feel your children are old enough and/or responsible enough to treat it with care? Do you not mind if it gets destroyed? As every child is different and only YOU know your child best, there is no wrong answer to any of these questions.
When reading the book, you can ask your younger children about a time they felt one happy/sad/angry/fearful/calm/loved. For older children, you can ask them how their body feels or how do they act when they feel one of these emotions.
If this book is out of your price range and cannot be borrowed from the library or a friend, I recommend using ANY monster book. Consider signing up for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library as this year she sent a free copy of There is a Monster in This Book for my four-year-old.
Color Monster STEM Activity
I first made this color robot in an afterschool class I created for primary students called, “Early Engineering.” This activity was a HUGE hit. It was hands down their favorite activity year after year. This year, when planning my “Monster” themed week for my own kiddo, I thought it would be fun to make Color Monsters and read one of my favorite books!
Many of the materials needed for this activity can be found at The Dollar Tree. The pool noodles, decoration craft supplies, masking tape, markers, and battery-operated toothbrush can all be found there! It will cost under $10 if you don’t have any of the supplies and can find it all at a dollar store.
Color Monster STEM Activity Directions
Materials:
- Decoration Craft Supplies (Examples: Pipe cleaners, feathers, googly eyes, etc.)
Step 1: Cut the pool noodle the same size as the toothbrush.
Step 2: Decorate the pool noodle to look like a monster
Step 3: Tape the markers around the bottom of the pool noodle. Be sure they are the same height and distance. Test that it can stand up on its own.
Step 4. Tape the hole at the bottom so the toothbrush does not fall out.
Step 5: Turn on the toothbrush and drop it into the pool noodle bristle-side down.
Step 6: Place the Color Monster on paper and watch the magic happen!
Vocabulary and Connections
When doing this activity, there are many ways to make connections and build vocabulary and background knowledge. I have included some opportunities below as well as some vocabulary words and terms you may use. Of course, the possibilities are endless!
The first opportunity is during decoration time. Take a look through The Color Monster book and other monster books and talk about the features that monsters have such as fur, horns, fangs, teeth that stick out, more than two eyes, less than two eyes, more than two arms or legs, less than two arms or legs. Talk about the shapes of their arms and legs or hair (curly, squiggly, pointed, etc.) Then talk about how they can make these features with their craft supplies. Show them how the pipe cleaners and feathers can be poked into the pool noodle.
The second opportunity is to talk about the reason the Color Monster works. Talk about balance and why you need three markers instead of two. Talk about how the toothbrush vibrates or pulses and how that energy moves the light pool noodle.
The third opportunity is to talk about emotions while making your monster. Determine what kind of monster you are making and decorate accordingly. My monster is going to be a silly monster or frightening monster. You can do this by talking about the color of markers you will use. For example, you can say, “I am going to choose pink, yellow, and green markers because my monster is feeling loved, happy, and calm,” or “I am going to choose black, blue, and red markers because my monster is feeling fearful, sad, and angry.” You can also look at how different emotions can be drawn on a face. For example, you can show how straight, downward-pointing eyebrows can show anger or how an curved line in the shape of a “u” can be a smile.
Your kiddos will love this activity! Stay tuned for more monster-themed fun! For another STEM project, check out this blog post all about ramps. For a more advanced option of an art robot, check out this blog post from Instructables.
