Family Fun with Monsters University

This post is by our contributor Carolyn…Monsters University is the story of Michael (Mike) Wazowski and James P. (Sully) Sullivan’s relationship before success as “scarers” at Monsters Inc.  Mike an overachieving-by-the-books university student has a very different approach to gaining success as a “scarer” than laidback-naturally-talented student Sully and this creates an instant rivalry between the two.  Mishaps forcing them to work together create many ups and downs until they ultimately become the best scare team in Monstropolis. Today I want to share some fun ideas Monsters University activities that you can enjoy at home with your family!

Here’s an adorable sneak peek of little Mike arriving to his field trip. This is one of my favorite clips from the movie – little Mike is so sweet & adorable. Don’t you just want to hug him?!

On a lazy Sunday afternoon, my two favorite guys and I made a blanket and pillow fort on our sectional and did what we call “snuggled down”.  We put our drinks and snacks within arms’ reach and had no intentions of getting up for anything! My significant other popped the Blu-ray, from the Monsters University Blu-ray/DVD combo, into his game player and climbed back into our sanctuary. Monsters University was an endearing (and cute even without Boo) family movie.  Six year old Mike during the opening of the movie, with his big eye and big dreams reminded me of the innocent hope we have as children.  My significant other laughed (hard) at the outcome of round one of the Scare Games and my son most enjoyed the awkwardly funny and unpopular brothers of the fraternity OK (Oozma Kappa).  After the movie was over we started thinking of ideas for Monsters University activities and we made our own version of round one of the Scare Games – the Toxicity Challenge – down our hallway using hockey sticks and blocks.

We enjoyed the movie so much we decided to share it with our daycare friend. I had two toddlers for our second viewing within the week.  We watched it in phases – taking breaks to run through the Toxicity Challenge once again – and to have a university staple for lunch…pizza!

Mini Monster Pizzas:

From personal experience, my college diet consisted of noodles, KD, and pizza.  What better way to celebrate the release of Monsters University than to make mini monster pizzas!

I prepared the pizza sauce using one can of tomato paste, 2 minced cloves of garlic, a teaspoon of olive oil, a teaspoon of oregano and a dash of salt and pepper.  I mix up the ingredients and let it sit for at least an hour so the garlic gets nice and infused – yum! Amounts of ingredients are relative to your own taste.

Preheat the oven at 350. We made our mini pizzas on English muffins because they don’t get too crispy, they’re thin, light, and they are easy for little teeth to chew! I let the children spread the pizza sauce themselves and my son ended up licking it off his spoon. This now seems mandatory when we are cooking together! I bought a pizza pack of lunch meat which usually has three types of meat the children can choose from.  I cut up an assortment of veggies and let the children choose which they wanted to use. Pineapple was the favorite and the olives were spit back out! We topped the pizza with shredded marble cheese, put the pizzas on a cookie sheet and put them in the oven for about 15 minutes – just until the cheese on top is bubbly and getting crispy on the edges.  Let cool for a couple minutes and serve!  The children really enjoy when I use the pizza cutter on their pizzas and created teeny tiny triangle pieces. The pizzas were a hit but then again…why wouldn’t they be?!

Monsters University Activities – Quiz Time!

After your family has watched the movie, wouldn’t it be fun to have a pop quiz? After all, this is a university-themed movie so a pop quiz seems perfect, doesn’t it?

Click here to download your free Monsters University Pop Quiz.

Monsters University was released on Blu-ray combo pack on October 29th, 2013. It’s an absolutely adorable & hilarious movie that the entire family will enjoy!

*Disclosure: I received a copy of this movie for review in exchange for my honest opinion. The Monsters University Quiz was provided by Click Communications.