How to teach vocabulary by creating a monster

Kids love goofy monsters, especially ones they create themselves. Combine this love of monsters with children's love of drawing as a perfect way to teach new vocabulary to your preschooler. With just a few simple supplies and some time to be silly, you can teach vocabulary for body parts, shapes, colors and positions.

Things You'll Need

• White paper
• <br>Pencil
• <br>Crayons, markers or colored pencils

Instructions

1. Provide children blank paper on which to practice before beginning monster-making madness.

2. 

   Teach shape vocabulary by drawing the basic shapes on a piece of paper and naming them for the kids. Then have them draw each shape on their paper as you say its name.

3. Ask the kids to turn their papers over, or give them each a new piece of paper. Explain that you will be giving them directions about what to draw and where, so they'll have to listen very carefully.

4. 

   Choose a shape. Ask the children to draw that shape (or one of their choosing) "in the middle" of their paper as the monster's "torso." Explain that a "torso" is the middle body part of a creature, the part on which the head sits.

5. 

   Introduce texture words to the kids. Show them "wavy," "straight" and "curly" lines, and have them draw some on either side of the torso to represent arms. Make sure they know it's okay to ask you if they're unsure what the words mean. To make the vocabulary lesson a little more involved, you can have the kids draw one type of arm on the "right" side and a different type on the "left" side.

6. 

   Continue your lesson on body parts, texture and position by asking the children where "feet" would be placed on the monster. Once you have determined that the feet go "under" the torso, show them how to draw both "floppy" and "flat" feet. Let them choose which type to draw.

7. 

   Encourage children to make their monsters more lifelike by adding "pointy" or "curved" ears "above" the monster's head.

8. Allow the kids to add details to their monsters, stipulating only that the monster must have "eyes," a "mouth" and some recognizable shapes somewhere on its body.

9. 

   Finish creating monsters. Have the kids finish their monster pieces by putting a "sun" in the "corner" of the picture and "grass" on the "bottom" of it. Then share the monsters you have created.

Tips & Warnings

• You can teach color words by asking the children to color all the circles (for example) one color and the other shapes a different color. The same can be done using body part words.