A Fun Activity You Can Do To Help Your Toddler & Their Fear of Monsters
Is your toddler afraid of a monster hopping out of the closet or hiding under their bed? We see that monsters are one of the biggest struggles parents can face as their children grow. My own son Max, around the age of 6 woke up freaking out one night that his toys were coming alive, as he screamed from his room. As I rushed in there, he told me what was going on, then I remembered that earlier that day, we watched Toy Story 4….which if you think about it, can be a little weird and scary in the eyes of a child. I calmed him, put on a dim light in his room, tucked him is and assured him he was safe and we didn’t have the issue again.
However, in some cases, there could be an underlying reason, like a traumatic family event, loss of a loved one, increased anxiety or exposure to new shows, toys and friendships that can get into the mind of our littles and create fears, and a common one is monsters. In this blog, I share an exercise I created for my toddler sleep coaching clients both in our 1:1 coaching and available in our Sleep Steps program, that can help a child {& their family} work through the fear of monsters with a little fun and redirection.
Toddler Monster Exercise – The Monster Mash
I came up with this idea a few years ago, and I will pat myself on the back as it’s a pretty good one. First, I start with them downloading this template, then printing out one for each person in the family. Sit at the table together and everyone gets a printout.
Next, everyone colors their monster in whatever way they would like and can even pass them around the table once or twice, to let your neighbor to your right add something “extra” or “silly” to the mask.
Finally, the adults and cut them out, and either secure them with an elastic band or a popsicle stick {I print on cardstock and do this} and secure a popsicle stick to the bottom of the finished mask. Head into the living room, costumes welcome too, and play a monster mash dance party mix and have a fun, giggle filled monster dance party.
What his can do, is help to change the child’s perspective that monsters are scary, into a reflection on the new memory of the family silly monster mash party. I sometimes encourage you also equip them with a flashlight at bedtime that you pickup on Amazon as well. I make sure to tell them that monsters are not real and that they can choose to sleep with their light on, have the flashlight, or both. In addition, I love these pink sea salt lamp or these night lights, which are a personal favorite here in our house.
The one thing I will never do or advise my toddler sleep coaching clients to do, it to use a “monster spray” to keep monsters away. Why? That’s just confirming for a child with a young mind that monsters are real, and can make the issue worse longer term.
So start here with this light and fun-hearted exercise and reach out and book a call if you are in need of more help and support, we are always happy to chat.
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