Making Monsters: Safe, Fun, and on a Budget
My garage is full of cardboard and couch cushions from furniture I don’t own. No, I’m not a hoarder. Well, not exactly. I’m the monster builder for The Story School, and I spend all year gathering materials for the coming summer’s monster builds.
There is a lot to consider when building monsters for a live-action role-play summer camp. It’s not like a theatre prop or puppet; it won’t get its own lighting, it won’t be visible from only one side, it won’t have a scene change to set up and break down, and it won’t be treated delicately. These monsters have to withstand hits from foam swords wielded by excited children.
Live-action role-play monsters are a different beast entirely. There is a lot to consider when building a monster to stand against a small army of children that want to destroy it. The first thing is safety. Safety is everything, safety for the staff member(s) operating the monster, safety for the kids whacking it with foam swords, and safety for the monster as well (We don’t want them falling apart on the battlefield.)
That means the creature has to be comfortable to wear for long periods of time, not completely overheat the staff member running around, in sometimes 100-degree heat, and protect them from 100s of foam sword swings. It has to be light enough to pick up and move around. It also has to be safe enough to run around a field full of children. Which means getting serious about things like visibility for the operator, and making sure there are no hard edges that could go astray and trip up a young hero looking for the best angle for a swordblow. I am especially committed to safety since I have played so many of our creatures over the years and know firsthand how challenging it can be...
Get ready with me monster edition Getting into the ogre suit is a special challenge when you are six months pregnant Final product ready to spar and scare some heroes
Keeping these monsters safe on the inside and out means that I need to be particular about the materials used in their construction. More on that later.
Safety is just step ONE. Next, it’s gotta look good. The programming and administrative teams work tirelessly to make things as believable as they can. The goal of camp is to transport our Heroes to another world, one far away from everyday troubles. The more believable the props and costuming, the easier it is for our campers to ease into our world where immersive role-play, courage, honor, and empathy reign supreme.
And making the monsters look good, look believable, well…that’s my job. Building safe monsters is step one, but step two: making them look good is my favorite part. Unlike a theatre prop, these guys can’t have any bad angles. They will be seen from front, back, side, other side, and under. I can’t throw all my resources at the front and hope for the best. I need 360 degree solutions to making these creatures come alive.
Here's some of my favorite-looking monsters I've built over the years:
Jabberwocky Oz The Great and Powerful Bandersnatch Nome King Kraken (aka "Krangler") Vanderdecken Malificent Dragon Form
Now, unfortunately, steps one and two cannot happen without step three: Sourcing materials. Even though it’s step three, it’s actually one of the first considerations in any monster build. The materials need to be light; often, they have to be flexible, durable, and safe for kids to hit with foam swords. Not to mention non-toxic, weather-resistant, and comfortable. It’s a big ask to build these big creatures with all those qualities.
Real monsters mean a lot of real materials to make them happen. Another thing that makes our monster builds different from theatre or film is budget. I don’t have much of one. The Story School is a non-profit organization, and I’m always working to create these builds as cheaply as possible. Safe, fun, and inexpensive. That’s why my garage is full of cardboard and furniture padding, and I’m constantly scouring our town’s Buy Nothing Facebook group for items that might be useful for an upcoming build.
Pool noodles and inner tubes So much cardboard PVC and zipties FTW
I’ve gotten extremely creative when it comes to making these creatures safe, and aesthetic while saving money (did you know that the Jabberwocky’s eyes were made out of a recycled ketchup bottle? Or that the Nome King is largely a bed pad and packing materials?). I’m just as likely to shop at my local Dollar Tree as I am at my local hardware store for supplies; however, in order to reach our other monster goals of safe and cool, we’re spending more money than previous years. And I hope it shows. I hope this year’s monsters made your kids go “wow!"
Charging toward a monster Taking it in I can't believe it!
Pictured: Wow faces
A lot of our budget goes toward the final layers of a creature; we need craft foam, EVA foam, sealant, and expanding foam to make a lot of these creatures. Not to mention paint. None of that should be that surprising, but here’s an expense that might surprise you. Did you know almost half of the Jabberwock’s budget went to getting it to camp? That’s right: renting a vehicle to transport it from our workshop (my garage) to camp cost almost half as much as building the creature. I don't know whether that is more a comment on my ability to work within a budget...or the cost of gas!
Each year our monsters become a little more involved. Three years ago, most of our monsters were closer to involved costumes. I was building masks to go on top of costumes sourced from shops, or made by some of our incredible volunteer costumers, or I was piecing together bits and pieces from previously purchased monsters. Fast forward to last summer and the creatures were so big we had to rent a U-haul. Today, it’s October. For all intents and purposes, last summer JUST ended, and I’m already planning four new big builds for this year, plus reskinning some of last year's creatures to create new and exciting villains for our season 2027 Heroes. The collection of supplies has already begun.
As our programming team keeps dreaming up fantastical stories for our Heroes, I’ll be here trying to bring the most outrageous parts to life. Dragons, giants, monsters, ancient gods, they’ll all be built from scratch from whatever resources I can scrounge up. That, and many, many, many late-night hours in my garage.
If you want to help us build bigger and better monsters, check out The Story School’s website to see what fundraiser is running. In October, we run one specifically to help us finance props, costuming, and monsters. Want another way to help us build these monstrosities? Come on out to one of our volunteer weekends. We’ll be working on some of our current monsters to update them for this coming season.
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