Fold-up Monsters
Do you like reading stories about scary monsters?
Playthis game with your friends to create some
hair-raising monsters of your own!
This game is best played with groups of three or more. But you can also play it in pairs if each person takesmore than one turn at writing a line.
In your group, take ten small pieces of paper and write on each the name of a body partof a monster (eg claw, antennae, tentacle, eye). You can use the ideas for body partson the page below, or make up your own list using the entries for body and animal in your thesaurus. Put the body parts into a box or bag in the middle of the group.
Each person in the group starts with a blank sheet of paper.Write your name at the top and then the words, “The monster had…”.Next (with your eyes closed), pick one of the body parts from the box,and make up a description using this word and a simile. You can use the ideas for simile starters on the page below, or you can make up your own simile. (For example, if you choose legs you might write, “legs the size of tree trunks”, or “legs as hairy as a tarantula”.)Now write your description on the paper and fold down the top edge so that the wordsare covered. Thenpass the sheet of paper to the person on your right in the group.
Continue in this way, with each person choosing a new body part and writing a line of description until there is no more room to write and the sheet of paper is completely folded up.
When all the sheets are finished, unfold them and pass them back to the person whose name is at the top of the sheet.
Make your monster description into a complete sentence by adding commas, a full-stop, and the word “and”, as in the example below.Then have fun reading out your monster descriptions to each other!
Some Things to Try
- Draw a picture of your fold-up monster.
- Give your monster an interesting name, such as the Slimypod, or the Jaggytooth.
- Try writing about other real or imaginary creatures, such as dinosaurs, dragons, ghosts,or mermaids.
Example:
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