Monster crafts are great fun to do with kids, partly because they so clearly invite your children to be imaginative and creative, and do whatever they want. They are also a great way to use up scraps, so grab any bits that have been hanging around the craft box for too long, and incorporate them.Here are some creative monster craft ideas for you to try.
Paper Cup Monster
Source: https://www.thechaosandtheclutter.com/archives/easy-monster-craftLeftover paper cups from a party? You can turn them into fantastic monsters. This also makes a really fun party activity that you can get everyone doing, and it’s simple enough to do even with a few kids at once. If you’ve got several small crafters, writing the name on the insides of the cups is a good idea.
Materials
You are going to need:
- 1 paper cup (per child, with a few extras)
- Googly eyes
- Pipe cleaners in various colors
- Scissors
- Pens
- Buttons (or other decorative bits and pieces)
- Glue gun
Step 1: Turn The Cup Over And Make Eye Stalks
If you’re crafting with several small kids at once, you may want to do this in advance, but most children will manage this with only a little bit of help from an adult.Turn the cup upside down and use the scissors to make two small holes in the top of the cup. Thread two short lengths of pipe cleaner through, and then use the glue gun to secure these on the inside of the cup.Next, add a googly eye to each stalk, and the monster is now ready to be decorated. Of course, you can add more or fewer eye stalks, or put the eyes so that they are coming out of the sides of the cup instead. Almost anything works for monsters, though having distinctive facial features (eyes, mouth, nose) is a good idea.
Step 2: Decorate
Get your child to decide where they want holes for tentacles and legs, and then help them to punch these using the scissors if they’re too young to handle the scissors independently. They can make lots of legs using pipe cleaners, and these will lift the cup up.Alternatively, they could do a monster with dozens of arms, or with very tall eyes set onto several joined pipe cleaners. Their monster might have sharp teeth cut from white paper, or extra mouths (pipe cleaners or paper will do for this). Pens are a great way to decorate the cup, too, allowing them to easily add spots or stripes.You can help them glue on buttons or sequins or anything else that they want to include for their paper cup monster. Some little snippets of yarn or string will make great hair if they want to add that, too. Essentially, they can get as creative as they like to make a weird and wonderful monster!
Handprint Monster
Source: https://www.thebestideasforkids.com/monster-handprint-craft/If your child likes fingerpainting, a handprint monster can be really fun and has lots of possibilities.
Materials
To create handprint monsters, you’re going to need:
- Acrylic paint in various colors
- Googly eyes
- 1 large sheet of card
- Colored pens
- Scrap paper in other colors
- Black pen
- Pom poms
- Yarn
- Glue
- Scissors
Step 1: Make Some Handprints
Help your child to make a series of handprints in different colors and positions. They might want to try scrunching their fingers up and making a fist-print or splaying their fingers out wide. You could add your own handprint to give them a larger monster. They can also overlap prints to add more arms/legs or even heads.
Step 2: Add The Eyes
Help your child stick on the eyes. Do they want them on the fingers? On the heel of the hand? Sticking out on strips of yarn? They can do anything they like here.Next, think about adding some hair using yarn. You could help them curl the yarn tightly around to make curls or create a “spaghetti” monster with lots of long, wiggly strands.Pom poms are a great way to add interesting shapes, and your child can cut scraps of paper and glue these on to add teeth or spines. Get them to color in spots or fun patterns. Draw a mouth on using the black pen.
Step 3: Cut Out The Monsters
If they would like to cut the monsters out once they’ve finished, that should be reasonably easy. If they have added a lot of extra bits to their handprint, just cut a wide border around it all. You can then mount the handprints on a different background of whatever color they like, or hang the monsters on strings to create a display.
Popsicle Stick Monster
Source: https://wemadethislife.com/halloween-crafts-pipe-cleaner-monsters/If your child is a little older, they may enjoy the challenge of making a monster that can stand up, and a Popsicle monster presents this difficulty. Again, they can incorporate any other elements they want to.
Materials
Popsicle Stick Monsters need:
- Handful of Popsicle sticks
- Acrylic paint in various colors
- Googly eyes
- Glue gun
- Scissors
- Pom poms
- Yarn
- Pipe cleaners
- Toothpicks
Step 1: Create The Monster’s Shape
Help your child construct a monster that can stand up. Encourage them to think about their legs and how to make them stable. They can use pipe cleaners to prop it up if they find it’s leaning, and you can use a craft knife to cut the rounded ends off the Popsicle sticks if these are causing problems.Toothpicks can also be a fun addition to this craft, letting your child add spindly legs and limbs if they want to.It may take a few tries to get a monster that will stand up, but they should be able to do it. Make sure you supervise all glue gun use and don’t do this craft with children who are too young.
Step 2: Paint The Monster
Once your child has a monster that will stand up independently, it’s time to paint it! Acrylic paints will work well on the wooden Popsicle sticks and toothpicks, and your child should be able to come up with some great rainbow colors.Make sure they remember to let the paint dry if they want to add a new color on top of another one. If they prefer, they can also color the monster using marker pens, or just leave the wood plain and decorate it with stick-on crafty things.
Step 3: Decorate The Monster
Now, they can start to decorate. They may want to cut out paper eyes, spines, tails, or extra limbs, and stick these on. Buttons and pom poms also make fantastic and creative additions to this craft. Encourage your child to explore how adding weights affects the stability of the monster, and how a top-heavy monster will fall over.This is a great opportunity for your child to experiment with balance and creativity, at the same time as making a monster that looks great and totally unique.
Conclusion
Monster crafts are among the best crafts if you’ve got a child who enjoys unstructured creativity. They can have endless fun adding different shapes and textures to their monster, and exploring how different types of materials work. You can make a monster out of pretty much anything, and your child will love doing so.
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