• Monkey around with a homemade mask.monkey and his banana image by Leticia Wilson from Fotolia.com
  
  Transform your children--and maybe a few young at heart adults--into monkeys with homemade monkey mask crafts. Encourage children to use their imagination when decorating the masks and don't be surprised if you end up with brightly colored monkeys or those sporting rainbow fur.
  
  

Paper Plate Monkey Mask

• Use a paper plate to create a homemade monkey mask. Start by holding the paper plate in front of the child's face and marking where her eye holes are so that she can see clearly while wearing the mask. Cut large eye holes approximately 2 inches in diameter. The circles you remove from the paper plate will later become the monkey's ears. Let children color the masks with crayons, markers or colored pencils. Draw a mouth and nose on the monkey but not eyes as the child's eyes are visible when he wears the mask. Color in the circles you removed from the paper plate to resemble ears and staple them to the outer edge of the paper plate. Glue a craft stick to the bottom of the monkey mask so the child can hold the mask in front of his face.
  
  

Printable Monkey Mask

• Print a picture of a monkey's face from your computer for a quick and easy monkey mask craft. Look for actual photographs of monkeys, coloring book pages or cartoons. You can glue a craft stick to the mask or staple pieces of ribbon or a piece of elastic to the sides of the mask and wear it hands free. The Disney Family Fun website (see References) offers a printable monkey mask template which allows children to color in the monkey and add their own personal touch to the craft.
  
  

Construction Paper Monkey Mask

• Make a monkey mask from brown construction paper or a brown paper bag. Cut the paper into an oval shape large enough to cover the child's face. Cut circles from the same paper to serve as ears and glue them to the large oval with a glue stick or white craft glue. Form a snout by cutting a small oval shape from a piece of white or yellow construction paper and drawing a nose and mouth on the paper. Once you are satisfied with the appearance of the monkey mask, cut eye holes from the mask with a craft knife. Mount the monkey mask on a craft stick or punch holes in the side of the mask with a hole punch and tie each end of a length of elastic to the holes. Martha Stewart recommends using these masks as invitations to a monkey themed party. Do not cut out the eye holes if you decide to use the masks as invitations. Instead, mark the estimated location of eye holes with a dotted circle to encourage the recipient to cut the holes and wear her monkey mask. Write the information for your party on the back of the mask.