Making Animals Masks

Simple Animal Marks for a rainy day

You'll need paper plates, narrow elastic, paint, feathers, pipe cleaners, cardboard, glue as well as scissors and staples.

Each child should decide what animal they want to have on their mask. Measure and cut the elastic for each child's mask. The mask should stay on but not be squashing their nose flat! Fix it on. Either use strong tape or staples to fix the elastic at opposite sides of the paper plate. Cut out eye shapes and a mouth hole.

For very small children draw in the eyes and mouth shapes for them to colour in. Older children will manage this bit, or sketch it on lightly in pencil so they can draw the lines themselves. They can glue on extra shapes for ears. Colour in the masks using paint, pens or crayons. If using paint you should leave it to dry before doing any extra decoration.

Let the children use their imagination when it comes to adding extra sparkle! They can add features, bits of wool or string for manes or fur, as well as adding pipe cleaners for whiskers. If you don't have any pipe cleaners (available from craft shops) then you can use bits of wool or string. If you dip them in PVA glue and then hang them up overnight they will dry solid and stiff and will be good as whiskers.

Be prepared for someone wanting to make an elephant mask! You'll need a kitchen roll tube or two loo rolls for the trunk. Fix them on and if using the kitchen roll then bend it in the middle a bit so it droops. If you have loo rolls then stick it together at an angle and then fix to the middle of the mask. Use masking tape you use for decorating normally as it's easier to get the paint to stick too!

When the glue has all dried the children can wear their masks and you can tell stories about all the animals and let them make the noises of the animal they have on their mask! Children love making things and masks are very simple and easy to make.

You can then invent other games to play whilst the children wear their masks! Games like "What's the Time Mr Wolf?" can be turned into "What's the time Mr Lion?". Just think of the games they like to play and give them a jungle twist! Musical statues becomes musical animals. A little imagination can turn ordinary games into tons of fun!

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Making Paper Masks - Step By Step Instructions For 2 Exciting Masks

Halloween season is all about children. Bring a smile to your child's face with a spooky mask in tandem with his disguise. Halloween crafts are indeed fun to make and the best part is that these can be made using simple and easily found material. For instance, try making paper plate masks this time.

Just a little thoughtfulness, creativity, imagination and craft can help you make all sorts of masks, you can think of with way to easy material. This includes the following:
1. White paper plates
2. Construction paper
3. Paint
4. Crayons
5. Scissors
6. Stapler
7. Glue
8. Markers
9. Tinkers like small pom poms (optional)
10. Elastic or string

Envision your child like any animal such as tiger, rat, cat, bat, etc. Then go ahead with an easy mask.

Given below are the tips to make rabbit and pumpkin masks out of paper plates.

1. Rabbit Mask

Take two white paper plates, a pink construction paper, and a small pink pom pom.
To make its ears, color one paper plate from inside or just glue the pink construction sheet at the inside. Cut it in to two halves. Now take another paper plate to make the face. Cut a ¼ wedge from one side. This is where the child's mouth would come. Further, staple the ears at the top of plate or the mask that is the part opposite to the wedge. Watch that you place the straight edges facing inside. Now, cut two eyes on the face. Place these just below the rabbit ears.

For either paint one, or stick on the small pink pom pom right under the eyes. Finally, decorate the mask with crayons and markers. Make whiskers and color just as per your imagination.

To wear the mask, either staple an apt piece of elastic on both sides of the mask. Or you may choose to punch in holes on either sides and tie a string through them.

2. Pumpkin Mask

Draw a scary pumpkin face on the outer side on the paper plate. Cut the eyes, mouth and nose with the help of the scissors.
Now color the whole think orange with decorations of your choice.
Finally, make it wearable with an elastic staple on either sides of the mask, or punching holes and fastening a string through them.

Try thinking out of the box and let your creative senses go wild. You shall numerous options to work on in this art!
Happy Halloween!

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