How to Draw a Monkey (Easy Step-by-Step for Kids)
To draw a monkey, start with a round head and two round ears. Add a heart-shaped face, a big muzzle and a smile. Finish with a sitting body, round feet and a curly tail.
- Steps
- 6 easy steps
- You need
- Pencil
- Eraser
- Black marker
- Brown, tan and pink crayons
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Teaching this to a class?
Show one step at a time on the board and wait for the class before the next. The directed drawing for kids page explains how to run it.
How to draw a monkey step by step
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Step 1 of 6: Draw a big round head with a round ear on each side. Draw a smaller circle inside each ear.
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Step 2 of 6: Add a heart-shaped face line, two round eyes with shine dots and a big oval muzzle.
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Step 3 of 6: Draw two small nostril dots and a curved smile on the muzzle.
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Step 4 of 6: Add a body, belly, arms and two feet with two toe lines each. Erase the head line under the muzzle.
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Step 5 of 6: Draw a long thin tail on the right side that curls into a spiral at the top.
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Step 6 of 6: Color the monkey brown, face, muzzle, inner ears, belly and feet tan. Add pink cheeks by the muzzle.
Tips for little artists
Tip: Press lightly with the pencil first. Trace the lines you like with the marker, then erase the rest.
Tip: Make the muzzle wide. It should take up almost half of the face.
Tip: Draw the tail as one thin line pair, then curl the end like a snail shell.
Make it yours
Monkey with a banana
Draw a yellow banana in one hand, held up near the muzzle.
Hanging monkey
Draw a branch at the top and wrap the curly tail around it.
Baby monkey
Make the head bigger and the body smaller, with tiny feet.
Common mistakes and easy fixes
It looks like a bear
Add the heart-shaped face line and the big muzzle, then draw the long curly tail.
The tail looks stuck on
Start the tail at the lower back, behind the body, then curve it up.
The face is all brown
Leave the face inside the heart line tan and color only the head around it brown.
Fun facts about the monkey
A spider monkey's tail is prehensile, which means capable of grasping. It can support the monkey's full body weight. (Source: National Geographic)
Under certain conditions, a howler monkey's call can be heard from about 3 miles away. (Source: Smithsonian's National Zoo)
One Old World monkey, the Barbary macaque, has no tail at all. (Source: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance)
Questions grown-ups ask
How to draw a monkey easy?
Use simple shapes: a round head, two round ears, an oval muzzle and a round sitting body. A long curly tail makes it a monkey.
How to draw a monkey for kids?
Start with the head and ears, then the face, the muzzle and smile, the body and the tail. Color it brown with a tan face, belly and feet last.
How to draw a monkey face?
Draw a round head with round ears, then a heart-shaped face line inside it. Add two eyes, a big oval muzzle, two nostril dots and a smile.
If your monkey's tail came out extra curly, that's fine. Your monkey is ready to swing. More easy drawings for kids are on the home page.