Tapestry of Faith: Love Surrounds Us: A Program on the UU Principles and Beloved Community for Grades K-1

Alternate Activity 2: Monster Mouth

Activity time: 20 minutes

Materials for Activity

  • Brown paper grocery bag
  • Scissors
  • Markers
  • Stapler
  • Old newspaper and magazines
  • Rubber bands
  • Masking tape

Preparation for Activity

  • Set out materials where participants can reach them.

Description of Activity

Tell participants that you all will design a Garbage Monster that "eats" garbage rather than garbage being litter. Invite participants to decide what the monster will look like and create it according to the group's suggestions.

First, draw a monster face on the bag. Ask participants what color and shape to make the eyes. What kind of eyebrows should it have? Cut silly ears but don't cut them out completely; bend them out from the side of the bag. Cut a funny nose and bend it out as well. Ask participants what colors they want the face parts and color them with markers. Cut out a large hole for a mouth. Make the hole large enough for children to later toss in the "garbage balls" they will make.

Draw teeth or lips around the outside of the hole on the bag. Fringe the top of the bag to make hair. Close the open end of the bag with staples.

Now invite the children to make garbage for the monster to eat. Ask them to crumple newspaper and make three balls each. Wrap each ball in a colorful page from a magazine. Secure and weight each ball with two rubber bands. Then, play "Feed the Garbage Monster." Put the monster on the floor and place a piece of tape on the floor where participants will stand to throw their garbage. Allow each child to throw their three balls of trash into the monster. As a group, try to get 10 balls in. Ask participants what they think would happen if no one threw their garbage away where it belonged? What can they do to make sure people dispose of garbage properly?

If you can recycle your Monster Mouth as paper, be sure to remove rubber bands from balls first.

Affirm that it is part of the Unitarian Universalist faith to care for our earth by disposing of trash properly.

Including All Participants

Cut the mouth hole large enough and set the throwing line close enough so every child can be successful at throwing in balls.