Tuesday, July 24, 2012


This post should be written around Halloween because the topic today is……Moonnnsttteerrrss!!!

This activity is great for trigger identification, as well as getting your client to understand what 'anger' is (by providing a visual representation).
Gather some art supplies, really anything goes--but having those little puffy fluffy colored balls are a great start (googly eyes, pipe cleaners, glitter glue--whatever ya got!).

{Side Note}—before hand, get a cup—again any cup, paper or plastic (not glass) and decorate it with fancy things if you desire but more importantly write/draw coping skills all over it.We will come back to this later.

Now, what is anger? With little clients any book on anger is a great start or if you have been working with them for a while, a simple review is fine—maybe play ‘feeling charades’ to get the ideas flowing? Once they are comfortable with/understand the emotion, begin brainstorming situations that have triggered anger for them. Once you have those waves flowing, have the client create an outline of their body and help them identify where they feel their anger throughout their body (use the trigger situations they identified to aid in creating a storyline they can work from).

Here’s the crafty part--they get to make their own angries! Explain to them how anger is like having lots of little monsters inside. Whip out those supplies and explain how everyone’s angries are different (some have lots of eyes, some have none, some are creepy crawly—you get the idea) and today they are going to trap theirs with a special trick--BUT (of course) they will need to make them first! Have them make as many as they feel they need (or feel inside). Let them get creative!
Once they have created their angries, have them place those angries on the spots identified earlier (on the body diagram).

  Whoa! That’s a lot of angry monsters!

Now onto coping skills---Review (and practice!) with the client coping skills learned in past sessions or if this just being taught, move through each angry in the body and together identify (and practice!) a coping skill they can utilize to combat the angry monster (this is where you can bring out THE CUP --i.e. a fancy *ahem dollar store* cup---you totally spent long hours drawing/writing examples of coping skills on—and utilize it as a visual aid). Add any coping skills personal to them on the cup.

Process with the client how those angries build up and can start to ‘grumble inside’ (like a volcano) without their coping skills to help tame them.  As the angries grumble and grow they start to get out of control (now start to throw them on the ground). Once they are all on the ground provide them with THE CUP and explain this cup is a special trap—but to make it work they have to practice a coping skill to scoop up the angry and they have to get all the angries before the volcano explodes!  Set a timer and have them go! Once they practice the skill, have them scoop up the angry into the coping cup (Now, don’t just sit there while they run around! To get them moving you have to move—cheer them on-tell them how close the volcano is getting and help them through modeling if they are a little client).

Now praise them for coping and trapping all those angries!! High fives for everyone one!
Fun idea: You can let them keep their angries in THE CUP as a reward a reminder of how they can 'trap their angries'!


  1. I was interested in reading your post but had a problem seeing the text because of the background:) Just wanted to let you know!

    1. Thank you for the feedback! Is it just this post? I will change the font so its easier to view!! Let me know if it works--thank you again!

    2. The background is distracting. Wonderful blog otherwise!!!

  2. I did this activity with my 8 year old boy a week or so ago. He really enjoyed making them (wish I knew if there was a way I could attach a picture of his angries). It ended up being a two day activity since he couldn't play much with the angries till they dried. So the day he made the angries instead of a cup I had a kleenex box similar to the one you show in your accomplishment box. He decorated it with coping skills. The next day I did a game where after he said or demonstrated an anger coping skills we tried to make "baskets" into the opening of the tissue box for each skill. He really enjoyed that and we made a longer list of coping skill ideas than he's ever made before. He also has requested to play this again, great for reviewing :)

  3. I'm looking forward to trying this! Can you tell me about the clothespins on each "angry"?

    1. The clothespins were just something my client chose to make his 'angry' unique. I have a bunch of random crafty stuff in my art supplies..he called them antennas I believe. : )