Monkeys are honestly one of the most joyful and entertaining craft subjects you can choose for kids. They are cheeky, they are funny, they swing from things, they make brilliant faces, and they bring an instant energy of playfulness and fun to any craft session.
And monkey crafts are brilliant because kids genuinely enjoy making them.
There is something about creating that round face with those big ears and that wide cheeky grin that makes kids laugh throughout the whole making process. The results are always charming and full of personality in a way that other animal crafts sometimes are not. And if you have been making wonderful bear crafts lately, go check out 21 Bear Craft Ideas Kids Will Absolutely Love Making because combining bears and monkeys creates the most brilliant jungle and woodland animal craft collection imaginable.
So let us get into these 23 monkey craft ideas that bring so much genuine fun to craft time.
1. Paper Plate Monkey
Paint a large paper plate brown. Cut a slightly smaller oval from lighter brown card for the face and glue it in the centre. Add two large round ears on the sides made from brown card circles with lighter inner circles. Paint or draw two large eyes, a wide smile, and two small nostrils.
Paper plate monkeys are absolutely charming and kids always love the exaggerated facial features that make their monkey look so full of personality.
The large round plate gives kids plenty of space to really go for it with the expressions. Some kids make their monkey look mischievous. Others make theirs look surprised or laughing.
The personality that comes through in each individual monkey face is always really wonderful to see. Display a group of paper plate monkeys together and every single one looks different and equally brilliant.
For more wonderful round faced animal craft ideas that produce results this full of character and personality, go explore 29 Farm Animal Craft Ideas That Bring the Barnyard to Life because those projects celebrate animal personalities in the same joyful and expressive ways.
2. Toilet Roll Monkey
Paint a toilet paper roll brown. Add a lighter oval face section in the centre front. Cut two round ear shapes from brown card and attach to the sides. Add a long brown card tail curling from the bottom. Draw or paint facial features.
Toilet roll monkeys are wonderfully quick and the curling paper tail adds a really lovely playful quality.
Stand them upright in a group on a shelf or windowsill for a really cheerful display. Make them in slightly different shades of brown for natural variety across the collection.
Some kids make their toilet roll monkey tails curl upward. Others make them curl outward. Each variation creates a different and equally charming character that kids love giving names and personalities to.
3. Sock Monkey
Use a brown or grey patterned sock to create a classic sock monkey. Stuff the sock and tie off sections for the body, head, and limbs. Cut small pieces from a second sock for ears, mouth, and tail. Sew or glue everything in place. Add button eyes.
Sock monkeys are genuinely beloved craft projects that kids treasure and keep for years.
The classic sock monkey is one of those toys that has delighted children for generations because of the completely unique and charmingly imperfect quality that every handmade one has.
No two sock monkeys ever look exactly the same. Each one has its own character that emerges from the making process. Kids who make a sock monkey feel genuine pride in creating a real toy from almost nothing.
Go check out 31 Dinosaur Craft Ideas for Kids That Feel Roarsome for more wonderful stuffed and soft toy craft ideas that create this same beloved and treasured quality in handmade creature companions.
4. Handprint Monkey
Paint a child’s hand brown and press it onto paper. The palm becomes the monkey’s face and the four fingers become the top of the head and ears. The thumb becomes a cheeky sideways ear or a wave. Add facial features once dry.
Handprint monkeys are wonderfully clever and kids are always delighted by how perfectly their pressed hand creates a monkey shape.
Make a jungle scene with handprint monkeys swinging from handprint vines across a large green paper background. These make really wonderful framed keepsake artworks.
The natural variation in hand sizes across a sibling group creates a really lovely collection of monkeys at different scales that tells a beautiful story about the children who made them.
5. Paper Bag Monkey
Decorate a brown paper bag as a monkey. Paint or colour the bag with brown fur markings and a lighter face area. Add large round ears cut from brown card, googly eyes, and a wide smiling mouth. Stuff with newspaper and stand upright for display.
Paper bag monkeys are wonderfully three dimensional and the stuffed quality gives them a really satisfying rounded shape.
Kids love the transformation of a plain brown bag into a cheeky monkey character. The standing quality of a stuffed paper bag monkey makes them perfect for display on shelves or in classroom windows.
Add a curling paper tail and a small banana made from yellow card for extra charm and detail that makes the finished monkey look really complete.
For more wonderful paper bag three dimensional craft ideas that stand up beautifully for display, go take a look at 27 Zoo Animal Craft Ideas for Kids That Spark Creativity because those projects use paper bags and standing structures in equally creative and impressive animal craft ways.
6. Clay Monkey
Roll a ball of air dry clay for the body and a slightly smaller ball for the head. Shape simple arm and leg sausages and a long curling tail. Press a slightly flattened oval onto the face for the lighter muzzle area. Add eyes and a smiling mouth with a toothpick. Paint once dry.
Clay monkeys are beautiful sculptural pieces and kids feel genuinely proud of the three dimensional result.
The curling tail is always the most satisfying element to shape and kids spend real time and thought getting the curl exactly right.
Each clay monkey ends up completely individual because of the natural variation in how different children shape and position each element. Seal with varnish for a professional finish that keeps the monkey looking brilliant for years.
7. Clothespin Monkey
Paint a wooden clothespin brown. Add a small brown pom pom for the head. Paint or draw a face on the pom pom with a fine marker.
Cut tiny card ears and a long curling tail from brown pipe cleaner. Clip the monkey onto a shelf edge, a plant pot, or a string of fairy lights.
Clothespin monkeys are wonderfully interactive because the clipping mechanism means they can hang from absolutely anything.
Kids love finding new things for their monkey to hang from. The plant pot rim, the edge of a bookshelf, a shoelace, a pencil. That playful hanging quality is perfectly suited to the character of a monkey. Make a whole troop of clothespin monkeys in slightly different poses and hang them all along a string stretched across a room for a really brilliant display.
Go explore 48 Zoo Animal Craft Ideas for Kids That Spark Creativity for more wonderful small scale and interactive animal craft ideas that produce results with this same delightful playful quality.
8. Paper Chain Monkey
Cut strips of brown paper. Link them together into a chain by gluing each strip into a loop that passes through the previous one. Add a monkey face circle at one end of the chain. The chain body stretches and hangs just like a real monkey swinging.
Paper chain monkeys are quick, colourful, and endlessly extendable.
Kids who make one paper chain monkey immediately want to make it longer and longer until the monkey chain stretches across an entire room.
Use alternating shades of brown for a striped effect or add occasional yellow links as bananas tucked into the chain. These look absolutely brilliant hanging from a high point with the chain body dangling down to the floor.
9. Pom Pom Monkey
Make or buy a large brown pom pom for the body and a slightly smaller one for the head. Glue them together. Add pipe cleaner arms, legs, and a curling tail. Attach small felt ears and googly eyes. Add a lighter felt muzzle and a tiny smile.
Pom pom monkeys are irresistibly fluffy and the pipe cleaner limbs can be posed in different positions.
The poseable quality of the pipe cleaner limbs means kids can make their monkey sit, hang, wave, or swing. That interactivity makes pom pom monkeys much more engaging as toys than static craft results.
Make a whole family of different sized pom pom monkeys and pose them together in a scene on a shelf for a really charming and playful display.
For more wonderful pom pom and poseable creature craft ideas, go check out 49 Fish Craft Ideas for Kids That Are Perfect for Ocean Themes because those projects use pom poms and flexible materials in equally creative and interactive ways.
10. Watercolour Monkey
Use watercolour paints to create a monkey swinging through a jungle scene. Paint a lush green background first with wet on wet technique. Once dry paint the monkey shape in warm brown tones over the top. Add jungle details with a fine brush.
Watercolour jungle monkey paintings are absolutely beautiful and the layered painting process produces results that look genuinely impressive.
The contrast between the lush green jungle background and the warm brown monkey creates a really vibrant and dynamic composition. Add banana yellow accents throughout the jungle scene.
Paint other jungle creatures peeking through the leaves for extra richness and depth. These look stunning framed and displayed and kids are always genuinely proud of the professional quality of the result.
11. Monkey Finger Puppet
Cut a small monkey shape from brown felt. Sew or glue the edges together leaving the bottom open to fit over a finger. Add tiny felt ears, a lighter felt muzzle, tiny button eyes, and a long pipe cleaner tail.
Monkey finger puppets are fiddly but completely charming and the play value after making is enormous.
A set of five monkey finger puppets in slightly different expressions and poses for each finger looks amazing and provides endless imaginative jungle play. Kids create whole monkey troop stories and adventures using their fingers as the jungle stage.
The small detailed nature of finger puppet making is genuinely challenging for older kids in a really satisfying and absorbing way.
Go check out 19 Rainbow Crafts for Kids That Brighten Any Rainy Day for more wonderful small scale detailed craft ideas that provide this same combination of making challenge and extended imaginative play value.
12. Monkey Bookmark
Cut a monkey face shape from brown card with the ears extending outward. Add a lighter muzzle area, eyes, and a wide smile. Cut a long tail from brown card and attach it curling from the bottom.
The monkey face clips over the top of a page with the tail hanging down the spine.
Monkey bookmarks are completely charming and the curling tail hanging down the book spine adds a really playful and distinctive quality.
These make brilliant gifts for book loving friends and family members who will smile every single time they use them. Kids love making bookmarks that have an interactive quality like the hanging tail.
Make a set in different expressions and give them as a collection. Laminate for extra durability or leave plain for a warmer handmade feel.
13. Monkey Paper Doll
Draw and cut out a simple monkey figure from card. Make a collection of different outfits, accessories, and costume pieces that clip or fold onto the monkey figure. Dress the monkey in different combinations for different adventures.
Monkey paper dolls combine craft making with extended imaginative play in a really brilliant way.
Kids design the outfits with real thought and creativity. A jungle explorer monkey with a hat and binoculars. A beach monkey with sunglasses and a swimsuit.
A birthday monkey with a party hat and a cake. Each outfit creates a new character and a new story. The making and the playing are equally engaging and equally valuable.
For more wonderful paper doll and character costume craft ideas, go explore 3 Letter P Activities for Preschool That Make Learning So Fun because those activities include brilliant paper character and dressing up creative activities that build the same imaginative thinking skills.
14. Monkey Collage
Provide a selection of brown, tan, and cream materials. Torn paper, fabric scraps, tissue paper, natural materials, buttons, and sequins. Let kids create a monkey collage using whatever combination of materials appeals to them.
Monkey collages are wonderfully open ended and the variety of results across a group is always really interesting.
Some kids create detailed realistic monkeys using fur fabric and careful composition. Others make more playful abstract versions that focus on the fun of material exploration.
The variety of textures available creates really rich and interesting surfaces. Display finished monkey collages together against a jungle green background for a really striking and cohesive group display.
15. Monkey Mobile
Make five or six small monkey crafts using different techniques from this list. Hang them at different heights from a wooden dowel or a branch using different lengths of thread. Add banana and jungle leaf shapes between the monkeys.
A monkey mobile looks absolutely wonderful and the variety of techniques across the different monkeys creates a really interesting and varied display.
The monkeys appear to swing at different heights which adds beautiful visual dimension to the whole piece. Hang it where gentle air movement will make the monkeys sway and turn for a genuinely playful and dynamic effect. Kids are always really proud of a mobile that includes their own varied making across multiple different sessions.
Go take a look at 1 One Year Old Activities That Keep Tiny Hands Busy for Hours because those activity ideas show how mobiles and hanging displays bring joy and visual engagement to children of every age from the very youngest upward.
16. Monkey Shadow Puppet
Cut a detailed monkey silhouette from black card. Attach it to a stick. Use a torch and a white sheet in a darkened room to project the monkey shadow onto the screen. Create a whole jungle shadow puppet theatre.
Monkey shadow puppets are magical and the jungle theme lends itself perfectly to elaborate shadow theatre performances.
The silhouette quality of shadow puppets means kids focus on the shape and movement of their monkey character rather than detailed decoration. The resulting shadow performances are always wonderfully creative and atmospheric.
Add other jungle animal shadow puppets for a complete cast. The performance that emerges from a well equipped shadow theatre is always genuinely impressive.
17. Banana and Monkey Scene
Create a complete jungle scene in a shoebox. Paint the inside green and brown. Add clay or paper monkeys swinging from pipe cleaner vines. Include clay bananas, paper leaves, and small natural materials for the jungle floor.
A monkey jungle diorama is a really complete and satisfying craft project that combines multiple skills and materials.
The three dimensional scene inside the box creates a whole world that kids build and then play with for weeks. The ongoing nature of a diorama makes it a living craft project that grows and develops alongside the child’s imagination.
Add more elements over time. More monkeys, more jungle animals, a waterfall made from blue cellophane, a cave from crumpled paper.
For more wonderful diorama and scene building craft ideas that become ongoing imaginative play installations, go explore 4 Screen-Free Activities for Kids Parents Will Love because those ideas show how hands on creative projects become the most engaging and lasting screen free entertainment imaginable.
18. Monkey Greeting Card
Fold a piece of card in half. Draw or paint a cheeky monkey on the front holding a bunch of bananas or swinging from a vine. Write a funny monkey pun inside. Going bananas for your birthday. You are one cheeky monkey. Hope your day is a-peeling.
Monkey greeting cards are always a massive hit because the combination of a cheeky monkey illustration and a brilliant monkey pun makes for a card that people genuinely keep.
Kids who make these take real delight in thinking up their own monkey puns. That wordplay and creative thinking is brilliant for language development.
Recipients always laugh at monkey cards and that laughter is the best gift a handmade card can give. Make a set in different pun and illustration combinations for a complete monkey card collection.
19. Monkey Headband
Cut two large round ear shapes from brown card with smaller lighter inner circles. Attach them to a plain headband or a strip of card sized to fit the head. Wear for monkey themed imaginative play and performances.
Monkey headbands are brilliant for drama activities, jungle themed party days, and spontaneous imaginative play.
Kids who wear monkey headbands immediately start swinging their arms and making monkey sounds. The games that follow are always wonderfully energetic and creative.
Make matching headbands for a whole group of children for a really fun monkey troop game that gets everyone moving and laughing together in the most joyful way.
For more wonderful wearable craft and group activity ideas, go check out 5 Party Games for Kids That Everyone Will Be Talking About because those ideas show how simple wearable crafts like headbands transform any group activity into a really immersive and exciting themed experience.
20. Monkey Sensory Bottle
Fill a clear bottle with yellow tinted water. Add small monkey figures, golden glitter, tiny banana shaped beads, and small green leaf sequins. Seal the lid tightly with strong glue.
Monkey sensory bottles are absolutely mesmerising and the jungle colours make them particularly beautiful.
The yellow tinted water with golden glitter and tiny swirling monkey figures creates a really joyful and vibrant miniature jungle world. Kids tip and shake the bottle and watch the monkeys and bananas swirl through the glittery water for surprisingly long stretches of time.
These make beautiful bedroom decorations and really effective calm down tools for children who need a quiet focused sensory moment.
21. Monkey Wall Art
Create a large monkey artwork for a wall using any combination of techniques from this list. Paint a lush jungle background. Add a central detailed monkey in the foreground. Surround with jungle leaves, bananas, and other jungle creature details.
A large format monkey wall artwork is a genuinely impressive bedroom decoration that kids love having in their personal space.
The scale gives kids real creative freedom and confidence. A large piece always looks more professional and impactful than a small one simply because the scale commands attention.
Work on it across several sessions adding more detail and richness each time. The finished piece is something kids genuinely treasure and want to keep on their wall for years.
Go explore 8 Learning Activities for 3 Year Olds That Feel Like Playtime because those ideas show how large scale creative projects build exactly the kind of creative confidence and sustained engagement that produces genuinely impressive artistic results in children of every age.
22. Monkey Party Decorations
Make a collection of monkey themed decorations for a jungle party. Paper plate monkeys for the walls. Toilet roll monkeys for the table. Pom pom monkeys hanging from the ceiling. Monkey headbands for every guest.
A full set of handmade monkey party decorations transforms any space into a brilliant jungle adventure zone.
Making the decorations together in the days before the party is genuinely part of the celebration. Kids feel enormous ownership over a party space they helped decorate and guests always comment on how wonderful handmade decorations look compared to bought ones. The whole process from making to decorating to partying creates a really complete and memorable event.
For more wonderful party decoration and group celebration craft ideas, go take a look at 9 Minute to Win It Games for Kids That Bring Instant Laughter because those games are the perfect party entertainment to accompany a beautifully decorated monkey themed jungle party.
23. Giant Collaborative Monkey
Create a giant monkey together as a group project. Different children contribute different body sections. One group paints the large round face. Another creates the ears the other group decorates the body with fur texture. Another makes the long curling tail.
Giant collaborative monkeys are absolutely spectacular and the combination of different children’s contributions gives the finished piece a really rich and varied quality.
Each child contributes a meaningful individual section which creates a genuine sense of ownership and pride in the whole piece. Display it prominently where everyone can see their work as part of something truly extraordinary and fun. The giant cheeky monkey face looking out at visitors always makes everyone smile which is exactly what the best collaborative art should do.
Final Thoughts
Monkey crafts are genuinely some of the most fun and joyful projects you can bring to any craft session.
The cheeky personality of monkeys comes through in every single technique on this list and the laughter and energy that monkey crafts generate during the making process is wonderful. Every finished monkey is full of character and every child is genuinely proud of what they have made.
So gather your brown paint, find your biggest googly eyes, and get ready for the most brilliantly fun and laughter filled craft session your table has ever seen.
And when you are ready to keep the jungle animal craft adventures going, go check out 10 Calm Activities for Kids That Actually Work on Busy Days because those ideas are the perfect peaceful follow up to a brilliantly energetic and joyful monkey craft session that leaves everyone feeling happy and creatively satisfied.
