How to make a paper monkey stick puppet...

My monkey puppet is very springy and easy to animate for beginning puppet play.

 

       To make an old-fashioned monkey stick puppet you will need: a wooden chip stick, colorful paper, colored pencils, white school glue an cardboard. I've included a pattern of my own below that school children may use for puppet theater activity, display or performance.

My monkey puppet is a chimp.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Print out my pattern on your home computer or at school. Cut it out to trace around on top of either construction papers or decorative scrapbook papers. These puppet printables are made by me for young students to use freely.
2. To make your monkey puppets legs and arms, cut long narrow strips of construction paper approximately 1/2 inch wide and accordion fold these. Set them aside.
3. Draw around the pattern pieces for the hat and body on top of patterned scrapbook papers. 
4. Then glue the hat and body to cardboard and cut them out again.
5. Glue the arms and legs in their correct locations.
6. Now trace around the head of the monkey on top of dark brown paper and cut this out.
7. Cut out the ear and inner face pattern, trace around a pale tan paper, and cut it out. Glue in place according to my photos on top of the brown head. Cut out two ear shapes for the monkey from that same tan paper if you like, I didn't include these on the pattern but you can shape them into small "U" cuts and paste them in place by yourself, I'm sure!
   
8. Cut out the bow tie from any color of paper that compliments your own patterned body and hat.
9. Glue the bow tie in place.
10. Glue the pom poms on to the hat and let these dry.
11. Now color the chimpanzee's facial features using colored pencils. You may copy my example from above if you like or look up pictures of monkeys in your library to see how you would color the features.
12. Draw more details with a black permanent marker on the bow tie.
13. Trace around the hands/feet (same) of the monkey (pattern) on top of brown paper, cut these out and glue them to the end of the arms and legs.
    
14. Take one chopstick and glue this to the back of your monkey puppet between it's legs. Use masking tape to reinforce the chopstick. Let dry.
15. Cover the cardboard on the back with additional decorative papers covering the stick part of the puppet as well.
16. Use the circle template included with the pattern to make a monkey tail. Draw around it on top of brown construction paper. Cut out a spiral shaped tail and glue it's inner tip to the back of the puppet near the bottom. (see photo above)
    

Photo from Hamilton,
Ontario Canada.

       Performing monkeys are a thing of the past. Once the companions of street performers, organ grinders and accordion players, monkeys dressed like our stick puppet above are no longer commonly seen in public or on the streets.      

       Just right, an organ grinder photographed with his pet (Capuchin) monkey from 1892. Monkeys in the states were often only owned by immigrant street musicians who would dress them in 'band leader' costumes. These monkeys would be seen to 'command' the 'performance' of the human musician, and then gather the tips from the larger child audience on the street.

       Children in the U. S. are particularly enamored by monkeys because they were not, and still are not, a common animal species to our climate. The novelty of seeing one of these animated creatures in person, depends upon a child's unique visit to a circus or a zoo. Although it is not illegal to own pet monkeys in many of the states, it is considered politically incorrect to take one of these species from their natural habitats by the majority of people in this country.

• Making a living as an organ grinder
• The monkey and the organ grinder from 1955
• Charlie Chimp symbol banging monkey toy demo - old circus culture
• Rescuing monkeys from captivity is a tricky business indeed...

More Monkey Puppets & Toys: some free, some not...

• Sock monkey museum in Long Grove, Illinois
• For old-fashioned captive monkey puppets - Traditional Capuchin Monkey Puppet and Custom made Czech puppets 
• Art Workshops from the AVAM - make sock monkeys
• Recycling your old socks into dolls
• Miniature sock dolls for your 18'' dolls

Monkey pattern for the stick puppet shown above.