Five Little Monkeys

When I saw this post on Homemade by Jill, (thanks Jill!) I knew I wanted to make a set of monkey/crocodile puppets.  My boys have always loved this little fingerplay.  The only thing I wanted to change was the crocodile.  It would be so much more fun to actually have one with a mouth that could really snap those monkeys.  Here's what I did.

I followed the pattern for the monkeys.  So cute!

For the crocodile, I took the template she provided for the monkey bodies and put them end to end to make an elongated oval (are you with me?).  I traced another monkey body with the tail piece, widening the tail to create one long piece.  I also cut one monkey body out of green felt and then used the top of the original alligator piece to cut two seperate eye pieces.  I cut two ovals out of white felt, layered it inside of the mouth pieces and cut out triangles to make the teeth and cut a long red tongue out of red felt.

I stitched eyes onto the front eye piece, then sewed the eye pieces together.  I pinned the eyes onto the top of the alligator body and sewed the bottom edge to the body so the eyes would stand up. 

I pinned one set of teeth between the top body piece with the tail and half of the elongated oval and stitched around the curve. 

I sewed the tongue into the middle of the elongated oval. 

I sandwiched the second set of teeth between the elongated oval and the small body piece and stitched around the outside edge.  There you have a snapping alligator!

My boys have had lots of fun playing with this little set.  Hopefully they won't be too rough on them, so that they will last for a few more years to come...

Go on and make your own set for your little monkeys!