Simple games are a fantastic way for kids to learn and practice new skills while having fun. The ‘Hungry Monster’ game develops memory and language skills, and helps your child to learn when to use ‘a’ or ‘an’. This game is can be played anywhere and the more players, the better! 

How to play

• Introduce the game to your child
  
  Let’s play the ‘Hungry Monster’ game! We’ll take it in turns to be the Hungry Monster and think of something that the Hungry Monster wants to eat. Each time it’s our turn we have to remember the other things the Hungry Monster wants to eat and then add a new one to the list. I’ll start…
• Start by saying:
  
  I’m a hungry monster and I want to eat … an apple.
• Help your child to repeat what you said, then add a new thing
  
  I’m a hungry monster and I want to eat an apple and a chocolate muffin.
• Continue repeating and building on the list with each turn
  
  I’m a hungry monster and I want to eat an apple, a chocolate muffin and an umbrella. 
  
  I’m a hungry monster and I want to eat an apple, a chocolate muffin, an umbrella and a salami sandwich.
• See how many items you and your child can remember!

You can play this game with any number of variations – such as a ‘scary dinosaur’ that wants to stomp on things, a ‘magical fairy’ who wants to grant wishes to children, a ‘curious alien’ who or wants to visit different places… or anything else your child is interested in!

You can also extend the game to add in adjectives to describe the different objects in the list, for example, a ‘fuzzy peach’ or ‘stinky cheese’. This will help build your child’s vocabulary, and provide cues to help prompt their memory.