If you are a regular reader you’ll know that we struggle with sleep. We have done from day one with my littlest, he didn’t sleep at a year and he still doesn’t sleep now. But this isn’t about the little one and his determination to be a sleep thief. This is about my four year old who is scared of monsters and struggling to sleep.
At the end of 2015, as a just turned 3 year old, my biggest stopped sleeping. At that point I saw a sleep consultant, who was full of helpful tips for me to put in place. Then he started sleeping again, so although I put some in place, generally we continued on as normal.
Except now it is the lack of sleeping is back and the issue of being scared is looming large every night. It’s effecting his day to day attitude, his time at school and he is generally looking so tired. As you would if you were awake for an hour or more in the middle of the night after taking extra time to go to bed.
That was it, it was time to tackle this head on. More importantly than that, it was time to give him the tools and control over the situation. Much like twhen we made calm down glitter jars the ball was in court to make something to spray away the scary.
Yes, we made monster spray. I say we, I mean HE made monster spray. From start to finish this terrifying bottle is going to keep those monsters at bay.

We recently received a set of Chalkola chalk malkers to review, and other than having my pair draw on my windows, we decided that these would be perfect for our craft to make our very own monster spray.
Being suitable for non-porous surfaces meant that they worked magnificently against the plastic of the monster spray and the fickleness of children wanting to change their minds about which colour went where was solved because a simple wipe and the mark was gone. It also means that when he decides that he needs a new design it’s simple to wipe off and start again.
A simple shake of the pen to get the chalk ink flowing, a repeated dabbing of the nib at the first use and away we went. Designed for use on non-porous surfaces (like windows….) these non-toxic pens were the perfect way for the four year old to go to town.
He coloured, then he demanded I colour. The chalk gliding easily onto the surface of the bottle and any mistakes being wiped away with no lasting marks showing the trace of the mistake behind. Not only that but they wash out of clothes well (except the purple on a bright white t-shirt, but what fool lets her 4 year old do crafts in a white t-shirt?!) and off skin, so my multicoloured young man was easy to scrub clean.
Making the monster spray
You need:
- One spray bottle
- 250 ml warm water
- 5-10 drops lavender oil
- Pens of choice to design your scary bottle
Now I could have simply added water to the bottle and left it at that, instead I added the lavender oil. Lavender oil is known for it’s relaxing properties. It is said to calm anxiety and help with insomnia.
And so it made it into the bottle, I didn’t want to just banish the monster fears but also give him the chance for a more restful night.
How to:
- Decorate the bottle as best you see fit
- Mix 5-10 drops of lavender into the water and decant into the spray bottle
- Shake, then spray
Sweet dreams (hopefully)
Making our Monster Spray Video
If you would like to try out Chalkola to make your own monster spray, they have very kindly offered me this discount code – 15OFFSTR – if you do make one please let me know I’d love to see it.
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*disclosure I received the Chalkola chalkboard markers for the purpose of review. All opinions are my own.
What a great idea, I do hope that the monster spray works for him, it’s horrible when they can’t sleep well because they’re frightened.
Nat.x