With Halloween close upon us once again, many parents and teachers are wondering how to keep their little ghouls and goblins busy when they aren’t out trick-or-treating. Perhaps a Feed the Monster Game will help occupy the little ones from more mischief and might even reduce the amount of Halloween candy that ends up in their own mouths. You can build this simple toss game with a 2-liter bottle, some craft foam, and little Halloween whimsy.

Materials Needed

• 2-liter bottle, empty and cleaned
• craft foam in a variety of colors
• glue
• craft knife

Make the Feed the Monster Game

Prep the 2-liter Bottle

Following the directions here, clean the bottle to get it ready for the craft foam. Clean bottles will take the glue more readily, allowing the game to last a little longer.

Design Your Monster Face

Before you start cutting foam pieces, spend some time sketching out your design on paper. Remember that your monster face needs to have a wide-open mouth (several inches across). Plan out the eyes, nose, mouth (with teeth), and ears. Don’t forget horns, wings, scales, or other spooky additions. Once you have a pretty good look, move on to the next step.

Cut Out the Shapes

Starting with the color of the monster’s head, cut out your craft foam shapes. Work your way up layer by layer, stacking the pieces to make the monster face. DO NOT glue them together yet. The shape and curve of the 2-liter bottle can affect the way the pieces fir together.

Open the Monster’s Mouth

Using a sharp craft knife, cut out the basic mouth shape from the 2-liter bottle. It should be big enough to toss a piece of candy into, but small enough to keep the game challenging.

Build the Face

Assemble the face pieces onto the now open-mouthed bottle. Use enough glue to hold everything securely in place. Be careful not to use too much. Excess glue will cause the craft foam to slide and will extend dry time. 

Be sure to cover the cut edge of your monster’s mouth.

Play the Game

Once the glue has dried, you’re ready to play the game. Add enough candy to the monster to weight the bottom of the bottle. Place the Feed the Monster Game on a table or counter. Have the kids stand back a few feet (you’ll adjust the distance as you see how successful they are in feeding the monster) and toss candy into the monster’s mouth. 

Vary the Difficulty

If you make multiple monsters, you can up the challenge level of your Feed the Monster Game. Make some mouths smaller than others or set them farther back. You can also make the game more difficult by having the kids toss larger pieces of candy.

Enjoy Some Candy

What you do with the candy that the monster “eat” is up to you. Do you keep it for yourself, or do you give it back to your little trick-or-treaters? Will you trick or will you treat?