Chinese New Year Kids Craft: Monkey Noise Makers

Last year the kids and I had fun making sheep finger puppets to celebrate the 2015 Chinese New Year so I thought why not make it a tradition? This year's animal is the monkey and what better way to celebrate this wild and raucous creature than my making noise makers?

Using basic crafting supplies we were able to put these together in an afternoon; then we let them dry overnight before having a shakin', and very noisy, party the next day. 

Here's everything you need to know to make your own Monkey Noise Makers! 

Supplies

paper plates (we used dessert sized)

brown paint 

white paint

googly eyes

yarn

glue

craft sticks

beans or rice

You'll need to paint two plates for each noise maker. 

For this project we used a tempera paint. I usually use acrylic but loved that this dried MUCH quicker making it easier for us to move from one step to the next without much waiting. 

Mix a bit of the white and brown paint to create a lighter shade and you're ready to paint your monkey's face onto ONE of the plates. 

If you look in the picture above I included a couple overlays to help with this part. All you need to do is paint a heart and an oval; together they'll create an adorable little face!

Next up glue on your googly eyes, and a bit of yarn to create a mouth. 

Last step, put a handful of beans in the center of your plate. DON'T GO CRAZY WITH THEM! It doesn't take much to make it noisy and you don't want it to be too heavy. 

Finally, put a line of glue around the edge of the plate, as well as both sides of your craft stick (see image above), and then sandwich your two pieces together. 

That's all you need to do to create fun Monkey Noise Makers! 

This is a great project to make as part of a school lesson!