There’s a reason that people compare children to monkeys all the time. They’re both silly and mischievous, for one thing. You’re looking for some monkey decorations and toys, or you’ve decided to make the entire nursery monkey-themed, but you’re not sure how to do it in a way that’s unique, fun, and stimulating for your baby. See if these Monkey Nursery Ideas help.

1) LED Glow

This monkey decoration is a cool one for a baby or a young child. Little kids and babies love toys that light up, so this monkey decoration could entertain your baby for years to come. This LED-lit monkey will keep your baby company like a night light as they fall asleep, and if you forget to turn it off, it turns off on its own in 15 minutes. This makes it safer and keeps you from having to go back to turn it off and risk waking your infant.

2) Clinging Monkey

Clinging monkeys like these can be toys, soothers, or decorations. You can hang the monkey from almost anywhere as a decoration, and as your child gets older they can cuddle with it and carry it around. It’ll cling around their neck or on their back so it can be a companion, and it’s flexible enough that they can use it as a toy, too. These soft clinging monkeys also come in a variety of types, so try getting different types of monkeys like this one instead of the standard brown monkey most people think of.

3) DIY Paper Puppet

If you have other children and want to get them involved in decorating the nursery, a craft like this could be a good choice. You can use this youtube video to make a paper monkey puppet together with your child or children. Then, hang them up as decorations or hang up the one you make and let the kids keep them as toys. If you want to get creative, use different colors so that each monkey looks like a different type of monkey, or use all different colors so your kids can make rainbow monkeys!

4) Monkeys and Bananas

Monkeys are known for their love of bananas, so one way to decorate a monkey nursery with something other than monkeys is to get something with bananas on it. For example, you can get a mobile like this that has monkeys and bananas on it, and maybe put some decorative fruit out. You can even get faux fruit and hang it from the ceiling or add banana images to the wall to make it look like the room is filled with banana trees.

5) Plush Clappy Monkey

Many babies and children love toys that make sounds and move. If you’re looking for a monkey toy that fits that description, a clappy monkey would be the traditional choice. Since this is a nursery, you’ll probably want to get a soft version like this plush clappy monkey that claps its hands and sings “If You’re Happy and You Know It.” This will be entertaining for a baby to watch, and children can cuddle with it since it’s soft, too.

6) Sock Monkey

Many people want their baby’s nursery to be cute and soft, but what if you also want a traditional or old-fashioned look? One thing that’ll give you a traditional homemade vibe is a sock monkey. They’re soft and if you make your own, you can customize them to look like your baby or have colors that you like. You can buy them in stores, but if you want to make them yourself, the directions in this video should help.

7) Changing Pad

It makes sense to get a changing pad cover that fits your theme, but when we saw this one, it seemed more interesting than a changing pad with pictures of monkeys on it. This pad cover has a single picture of a monkey on it, but the monkey is about the size of a baby and it’s aligned so that your baby’s head will rest where the monkey’s head is. This is a clever and cute way to add a monkey decoration to your nursery.

8) Tropical Leaves

When most people think of monkeys, they think of them living in the tropical rainforests, making that the perfect setting or backdrop for a monkey-themed nursery. If you like the idea of creating a background, you can get decorations with tropical leaves and trees for your decorative monkeys to live in. For example, these organizer containers are covered in tropical leaves, and they’re the perfect size for storing babies’ and little kids’ clothes and toys. 

9) Natural Boho Base

Chances are, you won’t want to decorate the nursery with nothing but monkeys. Whether they’re your main theme item or just something you wanted to add a few of, you’ll need something else as your background. Then, add monkeys as you see fit. Since monkeys live in nature, a natural base works well and looks appropriate. You can try something similar to this Boho theme as a base for your nursery since it has many natural elements and monkeys would look good in this color scheme.

10) Monkey White Noise Soother

White noise soothers are a good way to help people sleep by drowning out any background music. If you think something like that’d be useful for your baby, you can get a monkey white noise soother like this one from Amazon. It comes with a dimmable light that can help soothe your baby, and the stretchable tail means that you can hang it almost anywhere. This is probably something that you’ll bring with you if you travel with your little one, whether it’s a short car ride or an overnight stay.

11) Nursery Rug

Crawling mats are important because they provide a safe, soft place for a baby to play and crawl around to help their muscles and mind develop. You’ll probably want one of these or something similar, so we found one with a big monkey on it. This mat from Amazon has a gray monkey’s head, shoulders, and tail, giving it a slightly energetic look. The color will blend into almost any neutral color palette and many colorful ones such as pink and gray.

12) Monkey Printables

Printables are probably the easiest way to create nursery decorations if you’re not an artist, and particularly if you don’t have enough free time. We found these printables that look like watercolor paintings of happy, energetic monkeys. All you have to do is download and print them onto cardstock or something similar, then either hang them as they are or frame them and hang them to form a gallery wall. This article has a set of four printables so that you can make sure all your printables have a similar art style.

13) Monkey Mobile

Mobiles stimulate children’s minds to promote mental development and also help soother them to sleep. If you only want a couple of monkey decorations, mobiles are a good choice because they’ll make it look like the monkey’s in its natural habitat, swinging from tree branches. You can get a tree monkey mobile like this one that even has leaves on it to complete the effect. This mobile is designed to hang so that you can use it for either a changing table, crib, or both.

14) DIY Plush With Banana

Monkeys are good companions for little children and babies because they’re similar enough to humans that children can identify with them, and they’re soft, cute, and energetic. You can create a decoration that’ll later become a companion using these directions This video shows how to make a plush monkey toy and decoration that’s holding a banana. The banana and the chubby appearance make this monkey unbearable cute, and your baby will love the soft texture. The nice thing about the heavy texture on it is that it’ll give your baby a stimulating sensory experience.

15) Monkey Growth Chart

Growth charts are popular in nurseries because they give you a way to measure your little one’s progress as they grow slowly in front of your eyes. We found this growth chart from Amazon that looks like a tree branch with monkeys climbing down from it. This is a unique take on the standard rule-straight growth chart because it takes into account monkeys’ natural habitat instead of just putting a picture of a monkey on a standard growth chart ruler. 

16) Jungle Decal

Movies and shows often depict monkeys in the jungle, so you can copy that for your baby’s monkey-themed nursery, or use jungle decorations to add a couple of monkeys to the room. We found a jungle decal from Amazon with several monkeys along with a couple of other jungle animals. The nice thing about using a decal like this instead of a mural is that you can remove it when your child grows out of the monkey theme.

17) Jungle Background

If you want a monkey-themed nursery, you probably don’t want to just put a hundred monkey decorations in the room and call it a day. You’ll need some kind of background or supplemental decorations to keep it from being overwhelming. Since some monkeys live in jungles, a jungle background would make a lot of sense. You can design a jungle nursery like the one in this TruBuild Construction article and then get a handful of monkey toys and decorations to fill it out.

18) Party Decorations

Your baby isn’t going to be in a monkey nursery forever. When they grow older, they’ll probably want a different theme or their favorite colors with no theme at all. They might even move into a different, bigger room when they’re a little older. That means that your monkey decorations don’t have to last for many years, just for maybe 2-3 years, so you can get cheaper decorations. One way to do this is to get party decorations like the ones this family used and treat them as nursery decor.

19) DIY Monkey Garland

Garlands can work well as a nursery decoration. You can use them to frame different areas, such as hanging letters with your baby’s name on the wall and placing the garland under it. You can also put garlands above the crib as a decoration and to mark it as the centerpiece of the room. We found this tutorial for making a monkey garland using some simple sewing supplies, though you could probably imitate it with hot glue if you don’t know how to sew.

Do you have something that we should have added to our list? Monkeys are a versatile decoration, and we’re excited to hear what we should have added to our list! Please let us know in the comments below.