Monster Bookmarks
These Monster Bookmarks are one of my favorite fun kids crafts that pulls double duty as both a hands-on activity AND a reading motivator. Kids get to design their own silly monster with pipe cleaner hair, handmade googly eyes, and jagged teeth, then use it to save their place in whatever book they’re reading.
These Easy Monster Bookmarks Get My Kids Excited to Read
Monster Bookmarks are the kind of kids craft that turns an ordinary afternoon into something both fun AND useful. Kids design a silly monster face on a small rectangle of card stock, add pipe cleaner hair sticking straight up out of the top for that wild monster look, then use it to mark their spot in whatever book they’re reading. Craft activity plus reading motivator all in one. My teacher friends especially love this one for their classrooms!
I love this monster bookmark craft for so many reasons. It’s inexpensive with just card stock, pipe cleaners, and a few basic supplies. It’s flexible, each kid designs their own. It’s a great option for library reading programs, classroom Halloween parties, summer camps, book club activities, and rainy-day afternoons at home. And best of all, it gives kids something they made themselves that encourages them to keep reading. That’s a win in my book.
This activity works great for kids ages 5 and up, with a little adult help on the cutting steps. Adults handle the scissors and hole punch, and kids take over for all the fun creative parts: choosing colors, arranging the eyes, drawing the teeth, and twisting the pipe cleaner hair into wild shapes. Every monster ends up looking totally different, which is part of the charm. Decorate a monster to match the time of year whether it’s close to Valentine’s Day, St Patrick’s Day or Easter. Even little kids will be excited to save their spot in their Board Books!
Why You’ll Love This Craft
- Kids can exercise their own unique creativity with each monster and it’s a craft that’s actually usable!
- Not only is this a fun craft for kids to practice fine motor skills, it’s also going to encourage your kids to read!
- The pipe cleaner hair is always the biggest hit in my house. Curl it, twist it, the options are endless!
Supplies Needed
- Card stock – I love to have assorted colors on hand for the kids to really use their imaginations. Include white and black for the eyes, but go crazy and even make those an exciting color combination! Card stock is sturdy enough to hold the pipe cleaner hair and glued decorations while regular paper will bend and rip.
- Ruler – Keep edges of the bookmark nice and straight.
- Pencil – Use a pencil to outline the bookmarks and eyeballs.
- Scissors – Have smaller kids use safety scissors with supervision or have an adult do the cutting.
- Hole punch – This is used to punch out the pupils of the eyeballs, as well as a hole for the pipe cleaners to go through.
- Pipe cleaners – Use an assortment of colors to make wild and wacky hair! No pipe cleaners, no problem! Swap in colorful ribbon.
- Glue – Used to assemble the monster eyeballs on the bookmark.
- Dime – Use a dime to measure out the whites of the eyeballs, but feel free to freehand or use any other coin or round object like a button or bottlecap.
Variations
- Cyclops monster. Make just one big eye in the center for a silly one-eyed monster.
- Multi-eyed monster. Cut 3, 4, or 5 eyes for a truly wild look.
- Curly hair vs. straight hair. Twist pipe cleaners around a pencil to make curly hair, or leave them straight and spiky.
- Add ears. Cut small triangles from card stock and glue them on top or on the sides.
- Add a tongue. Cut a small pink or red tongue sticking out from the teeth.
- Add fangs. Make two teeth extra long and pointy for a vampire monster.
- Add horns. Glue small paper triangles or use small pieces of pipe cleaner for horns.
- Halloween version. Use orange or black card stock with green pipe cleaner hair.
- Back to school version. Use school colors and add a small “READ” sign near the mouth.
- Personalize it. Write the child’s name on the back of the bookmark.
- For teachers. Make a whole class of monster bookmarks for a class party or reading challenge.
How To Make Monster Bookmarks
- Measure bookmark. Use a ruler and pencil to measure a 2 x 6-inch rectangle on a piece of colored card stock and cut out.
- Punch top hole. Make one hole near the center of the top of the bookmark. Be sure to leave a little space between the hole and the edge of the card stock so it does not tear.
- Add pipe cleaner hair. Take one pipe cleaner and cut it in half. Thread both pipe cleaner pieces through the hole at the top of the bookmark. Twist the pipe cleaners together near the hole to help keep them in place. Bend, curl, and spread out the ends to make some crazy monster hair. Set the bookmark aside while you make the face.
- Prepare eyes. Place a dime on a piece of white card stock and trace around it twice with a pencil. Cut out both circles to make the monster’s eyes. Use the hole punch to punch two small circles from black card stock. These will become the pupils for the monster’s eyes. Add a small amount of glue to the back of each black circle and attach one pupil to each white eye. Let them sit for a minute so they do not slide around when you attach the eyes to the bookmark.
- Arrange eyes on bookmark. Just below the pipe cleaner hair, glue eyeballs in place. They can be lined up evenly, tilted in different directions, or placed slightly crooked to give your monster a funny expression.
- Create teeth. Use a pencil to draw a row of jagged monster teeth on white card stock and cut out with scissors. Glue the teeth onto the bookmark below the eyes to create the monster’s mouth.
- Leave to dry. Lay the monster bookmark flat and allow the glue to dry completely before using it in a book.
Storage
Once the glue has fully dried, after about 15-20 minutes, store the bookmarks flat between the pages of a book or in a book shelf when not in use. Pipe cleaner hair is easy to gently reshape if it gets bent or squished.
Glue might start to peel over time, so just add a dab of new glue to reattach or make a new bookmark if it gets super creased or torn.
Pro Tips
- If you’ve already got googly eyes or eyeball stickers in the craft cupboard, those are a super fun addition to the bookmark in place of the paper eyes.
- One time after I told the kids this was the plan for quiet craft time, I realized we were out of card stock! It is an easy problem to fix with construction paper and a laminator.
- Raid the craft cupboard and decorate the monsters with anything else the kids can find like glitter, stickers and gems!
- The bookmarks should be nice and dry in only about 15-20 minutes so even the most impatient kids will be able to wait!
- Set up all supplies before you start. Card stock, pipe cleaners, scissors, and glue at kid height. Kids get bored fast when adults are chasing down supplies mid-craft.
- Leave ½ inch of space when punching the hole. This prevents the card stock from tearing when the pipe cleaners are threaded through.
- Keep wet paper towels handy to clean up any stick glue that makes it’s way off of the paper.
- Don’t worry about perfection. Silly, imperfect monsters are the cutest kind.
Frequently Asked Questions
Bookmark monsters are best for ages 5 and up but kids ages 3 and 4 can help with simple steps like choosing colors, gluing eyes and twisting pipe cleaners. Older kids, ages 7+, can usually do the whole craft independently.
Adult help is essential for cutting the rectangle, cutting the pipe cleaners, cutting teeth with scissors.
This is a great group activity for summer camps, classroom parties, birthday parties, and library programs.
The possibilities are endless! Of course, I love to pull this idea out around Halloween and for birthday parties. Anytime my family takes part in a reading challenge is a great time to make up new bookmarks like these monsters to encourage the kids to keep turning those pages! Another great time to create these bookmarks is during summer camp so kids don’t forget to read through the holidays.
Monster Bookmarks Craft
Ingredients
- Card stock assorted colors including white and black
- Ruler
- Pencil
- Scissors
- Hole punch
- Pipe cleaners
- Glue
- Dime
Instructions
- Use a ruler and pencil to measure a 2 x 6-inch rectangle on a piece of colored card stock. Cut out the rectangle with scissors to create the base of the bookmark.
- Use a hole punch to make one hole near the center of the top of the bookmark. Be sure to leave a little space between the hole and the edge of the card stock so it does not tear.
- Take one pipe cleaner and cut it in half. Thread both pipe cleaner pieces through the hole at the top of the bookmark.
- Twist the pipe cleaners together near the hole to help keep them in place. Bend, curl, and spread out the ends to make some crazy monster hair. Set the bookmark aside while you make the face.
- Place a dime on a piece of white card stock and trace around it twice with a pencil. Cut out both circles to make the monster’s eyes. If you want to give your monster three eyes, or even more, simply trace and cut out a few extra circles.
- Use the hole punch to punch two small circles from black card stock. These will become the pupils for the monster’s eyes.
- Add a small amount of glue to the back of each black circle and attach one pupil to each white eye. Let them sit for a minute so they do not slide around when you attach the eyes to the bookmark.
- Arrange the finished eyes near the top of the bookmark, just below the pipe cleaner hair. Glue the eyes in place. They can be lined up evenly, tilted in different directions, or placed slightly crooked to give your monster a funny expression.
- Use a pencil to draw a row of jagged monster teeth on white card stock. Make the teeth pointed and uneven for a fun monster look. Cut the teeth out with scissors.
- Glue the teeth onto the bookmark below the eyes to create the monster’s mouth. Gently press all of the pieces into place.
- Lay the Monster Bookmark flat and allow the glue to dry completely before using it in a book.
