Celebrate Frankenstein Friday or Frankenstein Day with these fun Frankenstein crafts for kids! Use paper, craft sticks and more to unleash your creativity!

Wondering what Frankenstein is doing more than a month before Halloween? Well, it’s his special day this month! Yes, August 30th is officially Frankenstein Day, which is also the birthday of Mary Shelley, the author of the book.

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What’s the story behind Frankenstein?

In 1815, a volcano named Mount Tambora in Indonesia erupted, resulting in abnormal weather conditions, including extreme rainfall. The effects spread as far as Europe, where it was called the ‘year without summer‘.

During this time, Mary Shelley was on holiday with her family, visiting their friend Lord Byron. With the weather confining them indoors, everyone was bored. Byron found a solution – a ghost story writing contest!

Mary jumped at the opportunity, but realised she had writer’s block. Later, at night, she couldn’t sleep and ended up having a daydream about a scientist who gave life to a dead body. The dream terrified Mary herself, but she now had an idea for Lord Byron’s contest!

Mary won the contest, and that is how one of the world’s greatest horror stories was born. Now we have two special days to honor the story – Frankenstein Day, which is on Mary Shelley’s birthday, 30th August, as well as Frankenstein Friday, which falls on the last Friday in October.

We’re all set to celebrate these special days by making some fun Frankenstein crafts for kids using various materials in our craft stash. You can join in too; just make sure you have lots of black and green of everything!

20 Fun Frankenstein Crafts for Kids

1. DIY Frankenstein Treat Bags

Put those brown lunch bags to good use by making a Frankenstein out of them! Paint the bag green and you have your canvas ready to make your Frankenstein as friendly or as mean as you want him to look!

2. Rolled Paper Frankenstein Craft

The scientist may have had a hard time finding body parts to build the Frankenstein monster, but you don’t have to struggle so much – simply roll a strip of paper, add googly eyes and details and you’re done!

3. Paper Bag Frankenstein Puppet

Here’s a Frankenstein craft you can actually play with – it’s a paper bag puppet! Our Frankenstein puppet comes fully dressed, with a shirt, pants and even shoes!

4. Printable Frankenstein Bookmark for Kids

At the time Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, women authors were quite rare. So 500 copies were published without her name, and many people even believed that Percy Shelley had written it! We’re glad things have changed, and if you’re reading a female author this season, a Frankenstein bookmark seems appropriate!

5. Frankenstein Color by Number Printable

If you’re looking for Frankenstein crafts for kids under the age of 5, you’ll enjoy this color-by-number printable. Did you know that Mary herself was quite young when she wrote Frankenstein? Yes, she was only 18 when she started, and 20 when the book was published!

6. Frankenstein Bookmark Papercraft for Kids

It’s not surprising that Mary Shelley was such a good writer – her parents were also writers. Her family was friends with famous authors like William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge. Her father encouraged her to read and write as a daily habit, and the result is there for all to see!

7. Paper Plate Frankenstein

If you’re looking for easy Frankenstein crafts for kids, this one from Glued To My Crafts is for you! With a paper plate and green and black paper, you’re all set for your own friendly little monster!

8. Popsicle Stick Frankenstein Craft

Nearly everyone has Popsicle sticks in their craft stash, so it shouldn’t be too hard to make this cute craft from This Girl’s Life! With sharpies and googly eyes, you can make this craft in a really short while. Add magnets to the back and make many to gift your friends!

9. Frankenstein Sun Catcher

As we approach Halloween, a Frankenstein sun catcher is ideal to set the mood! This craft at From ABCs to ACTs is really easy although cutting and sticking the border may need some assistance. All the sticking is super easy and can even be done by toddlers.

10. Popsicle Stick Frankenstein Puppet

Here’s another fun Popsicle stick Frankenstein craft from Crafty Morning – but this one’s also a puppet! This craft is a fun collage-style project, and is good for middle-schoolers, who can make an assortment of creatures – who are too pleasant to be scary!

11. Frankenstein Upcycled Tin Cans

Speaking of recycling, how can we leave out tin cans? You Brew My Tea has a fun tutorial for upcycling tin cans to make cute Frankenstein crafts for kids – the use of the corks on the side is clever! This is a slightly messy activity, so it’s best to take it outside!

12. Mr. and Mrs. Frankenstein

Bet you weren’t expecting to see anything about Mrs. Frankenstein in this list of Frankenstein crafts for kids! According to the story, all the monster wanted was a female companion, but he never got his wish. Well, this monster from Crafts by Amanda is luckier and seems to have found a bride, who looks rather pretty!

13. DIY Frankenstein Corner Bookmarks

Printables Fairy shows us how to make a cute corner bookmark that’ll come in handy when you’re poring over some horror classics this Halloween. In fact, several novels have been inspired by Frankenstein, including Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations and Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre.

14. Frankenstein Card Craft For Kids

Do you have a tradition of giving cards on Halloween? If you do, you’ll love this Frankenstein card craft from Simple Everyday Mom! It would also make an excellent invitation card for a Halloween party!

15. Frankenstein Art for Kids

If you’re looking for an art project in this list of Frankenstein crafts for kids, Natural Beach Living has one for you! As you go about creating this project, you can learn a little more about the author and the novel. For instance, Frankenstein is a German name that means “Stone of the Franks,” and there is actually a Frankenstein Castle in southern Hesse, Germany!

16. Cardboard Roll Frankenstein Craft

Our Kid Things makes use of empty cardboard rolls to make these easy Frankensteins! All you need are basic craft supplies, including lots of bright green paint and black craft paper!

17. Jumping Frankenstein Paper Craft

Mary Shelley’s novel wasn’t just inspired by a scary dream – it also has some scientific basis. Galvanism is the phenomenon where electric current is generated by chemical action and used to stimulate muscular tissue, and Mary wondered if galvanism could go so far as to reanimate a corpse. Well, this Frankenstein from Kid Pillar doesn’t need electricity – it can jump on its own!

18. Yarn Wrapped Frankenstein Craft

If you’d like to give your Frankenstein craft an extra edge, try wrapping some yarn around it, as shown in Crafting a Fun Life! It’s a fun activity for toddlers and preschoolers.

19. Picasso Frankenstein Collage Art

Arty Crafty Kids shows us how to create Frankenstein art in Picasso’s Cubist style. We think this is perfect, since just as Picasso created human faces with disjoint shapes, so was Frankenstein created with different body parts!

20. Shapes Frankenstein Monster Craft

Making an entire human with various body parts may sound creepy and macabre, but you don’t have to go so far – you can easily create your own monster with paper shapes! Check out the instructions over at Kids Craft Room.

There you go, with lots of fun Frankenstein crafts for kids! The best part is you can change Frankenstein’s expressions and make him look silly, happy, angry or even sleepy! Go crazy with your supplies and have fun – unlike the scientist in the book, this is one creation you’re going to love!

If you enjoyed these Frankenstein crafts, you may also like these projects for Halloween: