Poster paint in purple, green, orange, pink or black
Yarn in bright contrasting colours, one 50 cm bundle per child
2 large googly eyes, 30 to 40 mm, per child
1 pom-pom, 3 cm, per child, for nose
White card scraps for teeth
PVA glue or glue gun (adult handles glue gun)
Black marker pen
Child scissors
Pipe cleaners in any colour, 2 per child (optional, for horns)
Step by Step
Paint the entire top surface of the plate in one colour. Let it dry fully before adding anything, about 40 minutes. Rushing this step is where most children go wrong: the googly eyes slide on wet paint and land sideways.
While the plate dries, cut the yarn bundle into pieces roughly 15 cm long. Each child needs 20 to 30 pieces. Cut the white card into small rectangles and have children snip one end of each into a triangular tooth shape. Aim for three to five teeth per monster.
Once the paint is dry, glue the teeth along the bottom edge of the plate, pointing upward into the face. Overlap a few if the monster needs fangs. Let the glue tack for two minutes.
Arrange the yarn pieces in a bundle and glue or hot-glue the bundle to the top of the plate so the strands fan out like hair. An adult handles the hot glue gun. PVA works fine but needs 10 minutes to grip; a bulldog clip holding the yarn to the rim while it dries helps.
Glue the two large googly eyes in the upper half of the face. Press the pom-pom nose between them. Draw a curved mouth below the nose with the black marker. Add eyebrows with the marker if the monster needs an expression.
For horns, an adult bends two pipe cleaners into a loose spiral or a simple curve and hot-glues them behind the top edge of the plate. Leave the whole thing to dry flat for 5 minutes.
Good to Know
Ages: 5 and up, adult uses hot glue for yarn if needed.