This handprint Frankenstein craft is super easy for kids to make – it’s not at all like Dr. Frankenstein struggling to put together his monster!

When we think about the Frankenstein monster, we always think about this huge, ungainly creature slowly walking and stumbling forward, with a blank expression on his face. The reason for this creature to look so disproportionate is rather morbid – it’s because he’s made from body parts of different people!

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How was Frankenstein’s monster created?

In Mary Shelley’s story, Victor Frankenstein is fascinated with subjects like alchemy, chemistry and electricity, and he spends years studying the human body. Eventually, he decides that he can give life to a dead creature by himself.

Now to make the creature, he needs body parts, for which he goes to graveyards, morgues and slaughterhouses. Of course, these activities aren’t exactly legal, so he has to do them in the dead of night.

Finally, he creates a monster with a mix of human and animal parts and passes electricity to create life. If you’ve noticed the bolts on the monster’s neck, they’re supposed to be electrodes to conduct electricity – a detail added in the 1931 movie adaptation.

So Dr. Frankenstein may have gone to some dark places to create his monster, but we promise you there’s a much easier (and legal) way to do it! Here is a fun and easy handprint Frankenstein craft for kids to make that’s far more pleasant than the original version!

Easy Handprint Frankenstein Craft for Kids

Supplies required:

Colored craft paper
Pencil
A pair of scissors
Craft glue
Black sharpie

How to make the Easy Handprint Frankenstein Craft for Kids:

1. Download and print the Handprint Frankenstein Craft template. The template features two handprints for the base of the craft – one with the fingers close together and one with the fingers open. Besides the handprints, the template also includes Frankenstein’s bolts, eyes, shirt and pants.

2. Trace the patterns on craft paper in colors of your choice and cut them out. The handprints have to be green to stay true to the monster’s look! We’ve chosen purple for the shirt, brown for the pants, and grey for the bolts and inner shirt.

If you decide to go with your own handprints, here’s what you can do. You can cut out three handprints of your own – one open and two closed. Then cut one closed handprint horizontally in half, so that the top half becomes the monster’s shirt and the bottom half becomes the pants.

3. Let’s start by taking the open handprint cutout, which will form the head of our monster. Use a black Sharpie to fill the fingers of the open handprint – this is Frankenstein’s hair.

4. Hold on to that black Sharpie – you need it to fill in the pupils of the eyes! Stick the eyes in the middle of Frankenstein’s face. Attach the bolts on either side of the handprint with glue.

5. Draw a nose and a mouth under the eyes. Make Frankenstein smile – this is not a spooky craft! The first part of your handprint Frankenstein craft is done, so you can put it away.

6. Let’s move on to the bottom half of our craft. Stick the rectangular strip in the middle of the shirt, so it looks like an inner shirt.

7. Glue the shirt pattern to the top of the full handprint cutout, which is Frankenstein’s body.

8. Every monster needs his pants, and so does Frankenstein! Glue the trouser cutout to the lower part of the body handprint.

9. Time to put everything together. Apply some glue on the top of the body handprint and attach the head here.

10. Finally, take a Sharpie of any color (other than black) and draw a few horizontal stripes on the inner shirt. That’s it – your handprint Frankenstein craft is now complete!

We love how this handprint Frankenstein craft has two levels. Level 1 is where you use everything provided in the template, so you don’t have to make your own handprint cutouts. Level 2 is where you DIY the handprints for the body, head and clothes. This is why we love handprint crafts; you can choose the level according to your child’s age and crafting abilities – we promise they’ll both be lots of fun!

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