5 Ways to Use The Colour Monster in Irish with Puppets

The Colour Monster by Anna Llenas has become a favourite book for helping children explore feelings and emotions through a simple, colourful story. And now there is an Irish-language edition : Arracht na nDathanna, published by My Irish Books.

I love to recommend puppets and books together, they can really make play and learning fun, encourage reading and encourage imaginative play! The Colour Monster is particularly ideal to use with a puppet.A puppet gives children another way to join in with a story, they can hold it, move it, give it a voice and use it to express their own ideas.

Arracht na nDathanna – The Colour Monster in Donegal Irish and Arracht na nDathanna – The Colour Monster in Donegal Irish now available online.

The Colour Monster is a parent's and teacher's favourite and uses colour and a simple story to help young children recognise, name and talk about their feelings.

Check here all our colourful monsters puppets.

Here are five simple ways to bring the story to life with monster puppets.

1. Choose a monster for a feeling

After reading part of the story, let the child choose a monster puppet that represents how the character might be feeling.

There doesn't have to be a right answer. The interesting part is asking why they chose that particular monster.

2. Let the monster do the talking

Sometimes it can be easier for a child to talk through a character than to talk directly about themselves.

Try giving the monster a simple question:

“How are you feeling today?”

The child can answer themselves or let their puppet answer for them.

3. Give each monster its own personality

Choose several different monster puppets and create a personality for each one.

One might be excited and energetic, another shy and quiet, while another gets cross very easily.

Children can then create little conversations between the different characters.

4. Make up a new Colour Monster story

Once you've finished the book, the story doesn't have to end.

Choose a monster puppet and ask:

Where is the monster going today?
Who will it meet?
How is it feeling?
What happens next?

It's a very simple way to encourage storytelling, imagination and language through play.

5. Use the puppets after the book is finished

The monsters don't need to be used only while reading the story.

Leave them available afterwards for imaginative play. Children often take characters from a book and create completely new adventures for them.

That's one of the things I particularly like about combining puppets with books, the story becomes the starting point rather than the end of the activity.

You can check all our puppets here.

Enjoy your puppets shopping!

Myriam - September 2026