Don’t wake the monkey is a fun way to teach patience and emotional control with younger kids.

You don’t need a monkey for this game – any puppet or teddy will work fine.

Put the puppet or teddy into the middle of the circle. They are ‘asleep’.

Get a tambourine, bells, keys or any object that will make noise if it’s moved too much.

Start with a chant everyone says together in a whisper. Make up something like this based on what kind of puppet or animal you have in the circle:

Little monkey’s sleeping on the ground.
Sh! Sh! Sh!
We will not wake him with a sound.
Sh! Sh! Sh!

Then, as silently as possibly, pass the potentially noisy item around the circle. The children will have to work together and be very careful as they try to get it all the way around the circle.

If the item makes a noise, the monkey wakes up and the kids have to start again from where the item is. (Don’t send it back to the original starting point of the circle every time or some kids towards the end may never get a chance to try moving the item.)

Another way of playing this game is to split into two teams. The two teams form two circles, each with their own noisy item and sleeping puppet in the middle.

The two teams then battle it out to see which can be the quietest passing the item around. This is a great variation for more competitive children.