Spooks and goofs! Could there be a better combo? You’ll get both and more in one of the best spooky season books and outrageously fun parodies of We’re Going on a Goon Hunt, in We’re Going on a Goon Hunt by Michael Rex. Strap in for a wild adventure of creepy creatures, eerie obstacles, and a hidden goon. You and your child will love laughing and bonding over this silly goon. 

In this post, you’ll find four literacy activities related to one of the most fun spooky season books, We’re Going on a Goon Hunt by Michael Rex. These activities are meant to take you deeper into the goon hunt adventure while helping your child learn and bond with you, the foundation of My Book Bud. You and you will be asked to infer, discuss repetition, spot the goon, and go on a real live goon hunt! So, go one, adventure awaits! 

We’re Going on a Goon Hunt

Author and Illustrator: Michael Rex

Published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, 2020

Summary: Grab your flashlight and your courage, it’s time for a spooky adventure! A brave group sets off through creaky gates, shadowy forests, and other eerie places in search of a mysterious goon. With rhythmic, chant-along text and just the right amount of silliness, this not-too-spooky tale invites little readers to join the hunt… and then hurry back home again!

I hope you and your child love these book activities for kids for We’re Going on a Goon Hunt by Michael Rex. Be sure to explore my ideas with other spooky season books in Goodnight Goon by Michael Rex.

Skills to Tackle with Spooky Season Books: We’re Going on a Goon Hunt

Inference: Best for ages 4-8

An inference is when a reader “reads between the lines” to discover something the author did not say directly in the text. A reader has to use their own background knowledge and the evidence from the text in front of them to make an inference. We also do this when interacting with others in our lives, which makes practicing this skill while reading so very important.

Example:

• If you were on a walk, and saw a couple getting their pictures taken, the man in a black tuxedo and the woman in a white dress, you would make the inference that it is their wedding day. No one had to come right out and explicitly tell you that, you just made the inference based on the evidence of their clothing and your background knowledge of what people typically wear to weddings. 

In one of the best spooky season books, We’re Going on a Goon Hunt, you can make inferences about the characters based on the text and the illustrations. As the goon hunt goes on, most of the characters get more and more nervous as things progress, all except one. You and your child can make inferences about why that one silly character doesn’t seem to be scared of anything!

Example Conversation:

• Parent: Wow! A goon hunt! Sounds fun and also a little spooky. I noticed one of the characters doesn’t seem scared at all throughout the book. Can you find the character I’m talking about?
  • Give your child time to look back through the book before answering.
• Child: The unicorn! 
• Parent: Right! How can you tell she isn’t scared?
• Child: Well, she is smiling on almost every single page. 
• Parent: Oh, so if you’re smiling does that mean you’re not scared?
• Child: Probably not! It looks like that silly unicorn is actually having so much fun on each page. She is even waving to most of the monsters! 
• Parent: I also noticed that she is actually the line leader on most of these pages too. How does that show you that she’s not scared?
• Child: If she was scared, she probably wouldn’t want to go first. She’d probably want to go behind everyone else.
• Parent: So, if she’s not scared, what word could you use to describe her then?
• Child: Brave!
• Parent: Good one! Sometimes you can feel scared, but still choose to be brave at the same time. So maybe even if she was a little scared, she remembered that she could still be brave too.

You and your child can brainstorm some ideas of times when they were maybe a little scared to do something, but chose to be brave at the same time. Some ideas:

• Going to school without you
• Riding their first rollercoaster
• Learning to ride a two wheeler

Sometimes being brave and scared at the same time doesn’t have to be a big life event either. These emotions can come up in small little events too. It’s great if you can point it out to them when it happens. Some of those small moments might look like:

• Doing the monkeybars by themselves for the first time
• Trying a new food 
• Sticking up for a friend 

My kids love to jump off of things. They would spend all day finding things to climb and then jump off of. I love when they take a chance and jump off something high that scared them before. When they choose to be brave even though it’s a little bit scary shows tremendous growth and they prove to themselves that they are capable of doing hard things even when they are “scary” and tough! 

One valuable lesson that can be taken away from We’re Going on a Goon Hunt is you can be scared and brave at the same time. The two can coexist. Just because you are brave doesn’t mean all the fear has to go away. And how awesome does it feel to overcome something tricky when you knew you were a little bit frightened by it at first?! Spooky season books such as this one open the door to discussing meaningful life lessons with your child. 

Repetition: Best for ages 2-6

Repetition is when an author purposefully repeats a word, phrase, or line in a story. When something gets repeated, it is important for readers to stop and think about why the author chose to repeat those specific words. 

Repetition can affect the story in different ways. It might help reveal:

• Conflict: the main problem of the story
• Theme: a life lesson the author wants you to learn
• Foreshadow: a clue that hints that something might happen later in the story 
• Rhythm: the heartbeat and flow of the story when it is read aloud

Repetition is really wonderful because it helps to create predictability in a story and even invites reader participation. Your youngster might even start to anticipate what might come next in the story and “read along with you” because of the predictable repetition. Using spooky season books like We’re Going on a Goon Hunt helps to bring fun and predictable excitement to the season. 

The same four lines get repeated on every other page in We’re Going on a Goon Hunt, with a very slight variation. You and your child can talk about the repetition on those pages and why there is a very small change to one of the words in those lines.

Example Conversation:

• Parent: I noticed some lines get repeated over and over again throughout the story. Do you remember what those lines say?
  • Give your child a chance to look back and even reread some of the book to them if necessary. Remember, this isn’t a test! 
• Child: I noticed these lines are on lots of the pages:
  • We’re going on a goon hunt. 
  • We’re gonna catch a green one. 
  • What a spooky night!
  • We’re not scared. 
• Parent: Oh, right. I noticed that the first three lines are the exact same every single time we hear them, but the last line is a bit different every time we hear it. How does it change throughout the story?
  • Reread that fourth line to them each time it pops up to see if they can identify where it changes. It looks like this: “We’re …” 
    • “… not scared.”
    • “…not really scared.” 
    • “…a little scared.”
    • “…a little more scared.”
    • “…really scared.”
    • “…really, really scared.” 
• Child: Well, at first they weren’t scared and then they got more and more scared as the story went on. 
  • If your child can identify this, that is wonderful because they have actually just identified the conflict (or main problem of the story). They want to find a goon, but the farther they go, the spookier each place becomes.
• Parent: Yeah! Why do they get more scared the farther they go?
• Child: Well, each place they go is a little bit scarier than the one before. Like in the beginning, they were just at a pumpkin patch and by the end, they are at a spooky old house. 
• Parent: Haha! Yes, and when they run home at the end of the story, what do they decide? 
• Child: That they never want to go on a goon hunt again because it was too scary. 

If your child can figure this out, they have just discovered the resolution, or how the problem got solved. Because things continue to get more and more scary for the characters, they finally run home and decide that they never want to go hunting for goons again.

If your child can’t come to this conclusion on their own, that’s ok, talk through it with them. This requires a lot of critical thinking and practice. 

You and your child can practice some very complex stuff with this short and fun spooky season book! Without even using the words repetition, conflict, and resolution, you and your child have just discussed each of them in incredible depth. Talking through these skills with your toddler on a level they will understand will help them build the comprehension skills they’ll use when they begin reading independently. 

Spot the Goon: Best for ages 2-7:

The characters go on a spooky adventure looking for a goon, but all they had to do was just look around! As it turns out, the goon had been tracking them the whole time and is visible on every page.

My middle child was actually the first to notice that the goon pops up throughout the book. And now every time we read it, it becomes a competition of who can spot the goon first! 

Put on your detective hats, break out your spy glasses, and spot the goon on each page! As you’re reading, tell your kids to be on the lookout for the goon. He will pop up in some very silly places throughout We’re Going on a Goon Hunt. Spooky season books can be a fun way to look out for festive seasonal creatures.

Example Conversation:

• Parent: I think that silly goon was following that family the whole time they were on their goon hunt. Let’s go back through the book and see if we can find where he is hiding on each page.
  • If you want to be extra silly, use a magnifying and detective hat to play up the “mystery” of searching for the goon. They will absolutely love using the spy glass. 
• Child: Look, there he is hiding behind the tree in the pumpkin patch! 
  • Other places the goon is hiding behind:
    • a tree in the swamp
    • a stump near the tunnel
    • a branch in the forest
    • a gravestone in the graveyard 
    • a window in the haunted house 

This simple activity might not seem like much, but you are actually working on so many things here. Your child is working on their concentration and observation skills. As well as their vocabulary skills as they have to describe where the goon is located on each page. 

To extend the activity, print out a picture of the goon, or draw a picture of the goon. If you or your child is particularly creative, you can draw a picture of your own goon. Then hide the goon around the house. If you want to make it a bit easier, give your child very obvious clues like, “He’s hiding …”:

• In the tea pot
• On the potty
• Under the kitchen table
  • If you want to make things a little more advanced, your clues can be a bit more vague, like, “He’s hiding…”
    • In the kettle that sings when it’s hot
    • On the throne made of white that flushes away the stink
    • Under the wooden frame that holds our dinner 

Your child will love searching around the house frantically looking for the goon. Make it easier by hiding the goon in one room, or more challenging by moving him around the whole house. Make this a daily activity, or something they have to do each morning to get them up and out of the room. 

Your goon could be doing something really simple, or really outrageous and funny. Your kids will be guaranteed to go berserk if they find the goon doing something totally ridiculous.

If you really want to expand the activity even more, set up an obstacle for your kids to go through before getting to the goon. This will mirror the book as they won’t be able to “go over it or under it, they will have to go through it.” This is a great add on as you will have to brainstorm ways to get through the obstacle to get to the goon. Different obstacles to get through:

• Cross a sea of pillows
• The kitchen floor is lava
• A twisted, knotted patch of blankets 

Save this activity for a rainy day when you are stuck inside. You and your child will have so much fun together and the ideas will keep on flowing. Give your child the chance to hide the goon and come up with a fun obstacle to get through together too! There are so many fun ideas that can be taken from and adapted from spooky season books! 

Expansion Activity: Best for ages 2-8

“We’re going on a goon hunt!” My family loves to get outside and go for nature walks. I love it because we get outside, get some fresh air, get some energy out, and best of all, it’s free! There are so many ways to have fun on a nature walk, but sometimes my kids start complaining that they’re tired or want to go back to the car shortly after we begin. One way to combat this is to pretend to go on a goon hunt! Spooky season books like this can help encourage your family to get up and move!

Nature walks are great because they can be done throughout the year. The only times we don’t go out on nature walks is when there is a lot of snow on the ground, but otherwise, we strap our boots on and prepare to get a little muddy as we set out for adventure. One thing we always bring with us is a bucket to collect stuff. My kids love collecting walnuts, sticks, flowers, rocks, and the occasional bug! 

You and your family can decide what you want to go on a hunt for, it doesn’t have to be a goon. It could be a bear, a wolf, or a dragon. My family always goes for a “troll hunt.” As we walk along, we repeat, “We’re going on a troll hunt. We’re gonna catch a big one!” We collect items in our bucket as we walk along just in case we encounter a troll. 

Throughout the walk, we usually encounter different obstacles we need to overcome. Sometimes it’s an overturned tree, sometimes it’s a muddy puddle, and sometimes it’s a bridge. We always have to find a way to get through the obstacle together. We find ways to hop over the tree without getting caught up.

We sometimes put leaves and sticks down across the muddy puddle to keep us from getting dirty (or sometimes we just embrace the mess and stomp right through it!). And whenever we get to a bridge or something else we have to cross, we use our “troll bombs” or the items from our bucket, walnuts, sticks, flowers, rocks, and throw them in front of us to scare away the troll.

Here are some steps to go on a “goon hunt:” 

• Put on your nature walk gear (boots or water shoes are great for muddy adventures).
• Find a nature trail near your house. It can be paved or unpaved.
• Bring a bucket to collect interesting items along the way.
• Decide what creature you are hunting for (a goon, troll, dragon, or something else!).
• Look for clues or “signs” that your creature might be nearby.
• Encounter and overcome obstacles together along the trail.
• Celebrate your adventure when the hunt is complete!

Nature walks are a great way to really bond with your kiddos. Your child will love running, exploring, and using their imagination right alongside you. Spooky season books can help to spark your child’s imagination in the best way. So be sure to read one before getting out on your own “hunt!”

To Wrap Things Up:

Don’t miss out on the amazing opportunity to have fun, be silly, and bond with your child while reading one of the silliest spooky season books out there, We’re Going on a Goon Hunt by Michael Rex. So, go on, that goon isn’t going to find itself!

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