One of our favorite annual activities during the Halloween season is opening up our “Monster Cafe.” I originally got the idea last year from the book Games for Writing by Peggy Kaye. This is a wonderful resource chock full of creative ideas to prompt and improve writing skills, both mechanical and creative. It really is an invaluable tool for teaching kids to write and enjoy writing!

The kids and I convened at the kitchen table, pens and paper in hand, ready to brainstorm. You see, monsters like really icky, slimy, gory, and gross things. Ordinary food and drink just won’t do.

On to our planning…

The first order of the day was to come up with menu items. Such things as Grilled Scream Cheese Sandwiches and Hack-A-Roni and Fleas ended up on our menu! The grosser and more morbid, the better! Ghoulish, yes?

Next, came the design and creation of the menu. The kids picked out colored construction paper and used oil pastels to decorate the menu. DD copied menu items from our master list onto the construction paper. DS1 wanted a little help with his writing, but he illustrated his pages very well – lots of monsters and scariness! DS2 had a great time drawing monsters!

Here is our finished product. Next order of business, opening up and waiting for the monsters to arrive!