Arts and Crafts Project - Simple Halloween Mask

Arts and Craft: Halloween Mask.

What you need: Popsicle stick, white paper plate or stiff construction paper, yarn, glue, scissors, crayons or markers. (If using paper plate that curves in corners: Make face on front of plate and glue popsicle stick to back. If you would rather use elastic then put face on back of plate.)

Either use a paper plate or if using construction paper make a circle as big as your child's head then cut circle out. This is the mask. Cut eye holes out of the mask. You can also cut out a nose hole and mouth hole. For the mouth hole you can show emotion by cutting the hole into a smile, a frown, an angry look, etc. Or you can just draw the mouth on. For a scary Halloween look, draw big pointy teeth on the mouth with a scar nearby. Draw mean bushy eyebrows or make eyebrows out of yarn. For the nose you can make a long beak out of construction paper. Glue green and orange yarn on top of the mask for hair.

If your child wants to look like a cat, draw whiskers around the nose and make pointy ears out of construction paper and glue them on top of the mask. Draw pretty long eyelashes around the eyeholes. Use your imagination. When you are done, glue the popsicle stick to the bottom of the mask, making it a handle to hold up the mask in front of the face.

Alternative: For children over five-years-old. Instead of holding the mask up with a popsicle stick you can also keep mask in place with an elastic band. But YOU MUST MAKE A BIG NOSE HOLE AND MOUTH HOLE IN MASK so your child is sure to be able to breathe. Just having eyeholes will not allow your child to breathe. If you decide to use elastic you might want to use a paper plate that is not incredibly stiff. You can staple the elastic on the sides. Have your child try the mask on to make sure the elastic is NOT too tight around their head. (NEVER use shoe lace, string or anything that can be tied too tight around their head! Your child must be able to take off mask quickly and easily. You do not want the mask to get stuck, covering their nose, as they are taking it off.) You can put masking tape over the staples. This could lessen the chance of faces scratches and also from the staples getting caught in your child's hair. If you are concerned about using staples you can make tiny holes on the sides of the mask to tie the elastic band in place. Note: It can get hot under a mask. Do NOT wear mask in extreme heat or near a fire/sparks. Keep mask out of reach when not in use.

To find Informative Parenting Articles, Useful Tips, Fun Activities, Art/Food Projects, Family Movie Reviews, Children's Book Reviews and starting in November a Monthly Science Experiment Day follow my BLOG parentingtipsandmore.blogspot.com

Jay Marie has a B.A. in the Behavioral Sciences, Sociology. She is a Former Nanny to children with parents in the Entertainment Industry. Find parenting programs to help you and your child at Harmony in the Home

Creative and Simple Ideas For Halloween Holidays Costumes

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If we look at the history of Halloween costumes, we will find that this custom is followed by people for over 2000 years. In ancient days, the Celts dressed in crude costumes to celebrate the Celtic festival 'Samhain". That's why still some Christians rebuff to celebrate Halloween as it has pagan origin. Samhain was celebrated by Celts to mark the end of a year and it also symbolized the final harvest period. Since, Samhain suggested the end of a harvesting period it was associated with human death. They also believed that during the night of October 31st, the ghosts returned to earth to cause trouble to the human kind. So, they burnt animals and crops in a bonfire as a sacrifice to their gods while donning scary costumes made from animal skin and heads.

When European immigrants entered America during 1800s, they surged Halloween into the American tradition. Also, during this period many Americans tried to alter the pagan theme of this holiday tradition into a more friendly festival and celebrated it with appropriate Halloween costumes. They organized get-togethers and emphasized the community to celebrate them in a kid-friendly way than with a theme of witchcraft and ghosts.

However, the change evolved only during 1950s and people started celebrating Halloween as a children's holiday. But, the children dressed up in scary costumes as they are influenced by movies like Dracula and The Wizard of Oz. They walked to each house yelling 'trick or treat' and the pagan's connection with this holiday festival ended during this period. Halloween costumes become a booming industry during the year 2000 and also it has developed into America's second largest holiday.

Over the years, Halloween culture was embraced by everyone and celebrated everywhere. The modern day people started celebrating it as street parties and also in pubs, clubs and discos thus making it a grand gala celebration. Halloween props and other accessories are now worth the investment. It is a good idea to share the cost of these costumes among friends as most Halloween props available in the market can be stored easily and hence can be reused year after year.

The amusing and freakier Halloween costumes are generally in great demand before the month of Halloween and people throng to buy the Halloween Masks and props to charm others. While men prefer scary Halloween costumes, women try to charm others with their coquettish and feminine Halloween costumes. Just let your mind's eye guide you in buying your funkier Halloween costume and enjoy the holiday with fun!

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