Kitchen Table Reviews: Fuzzy Little Monkeys
Mir and the kids discover a book that makes rainy days fun.
Fuzzy Little Monkeys By Chicken Socks
We’ve had a lot of rainy days, recently. I love having a stash of activities for those days to keep everyone happy even when we can’t go outside. (If you don’t see the necessity in this, then I suspect you don’t have kids.) Little did I know what wonders lay in store for us when I broke out Fuzzy Little Monkeys.
Me: I have another Chicken Socks book for us! We’re going to make monkeys.
Daughter: I want orange!
Son: I want blue!
Me: I guess I’ll be brown. That is what color monkeys are supposed to be, anyway, right?
Daughter: Whatever, Mom. Mine is cuter.
At this point I was thinking that it was going to be a pretty long afternoon.
But something wonderful happened—it turns out that you simply cannot be grumpy while assembling a fuzzy monkey. It’s true!
Me: Okay, so first we bend the big pipe cleaner and feed it through the top bead, like this…
Daughter: And then you fluff the fuzz on top. Ha!
Son: I’m doing my monkey’s hair! He’s stylin’!
Me: Okay, after that, take this one and wind it around for arms…
Son: Mine’s going to have Egyptian arms!
Daughter: Oh, I see… okay, and then the second bead for the body, and then fold the legs and add the tail. That’s easy. These are so cute!
Me: The book says it’s for ages 4 and up. Do you think a 4-year-old could manage this?
Son: I think so. It’s pretty simple.
Daughter: Oh, awesome, look what’s on the next page! You can punch out this page to make them a swing, or each monkey can have a tie and a cape. Superhero monkeys!
Son: I need a cape! This is Super Monkey, to the rescue!
Soon we had three little monkeys in various poses, each sporting ties and capes, and the kids spent quite a while arranging them in various tableaus. Sometimes one monkey saved the other two; sometimes they all dangled off the edge of the table by interlocking arms, legs, and tails. After a while, the kids left to do something else, leaving the monkeys all perched in various poses on a nearby bunch of bananas.
The next morning, I poured myself a bowl of cereal and put it down on the table. Then I went to get some coffee, and when I came back, there was a monkey sitting in my Cheerios. Later that day, I found one dangling from my computer monitor. I’ve since found them in my shoes, riding my toothpaste, and in the fridge. I’m thinking of calling my autobiography “Invasion of the Fuzzy Monkeys.”
Pros: Everybody likes monkeys! Easy and super-cute. Everything is better with a superhero cape.
Cons: Not a terribly time-consuming activity (unless you count playing with them, afterward). Titling my autobiography “Invasion of the Fuzzy Little Monkeys.” Monkeys do not taste as good as cereal.
Fuzzy Little Monkeys gets three thumbs up from our kitchen table, but I suggest you look around before you sit down or eat anything there, just in case.
