Whether the sun is shining or it’s pouring with rain, it’s always a good idea to have some ideas for fun activities for kids up your sleeve, so how about getting creative and making up some great masks?
If you haven’t already noticed, animal-based movies for children are hot, hot, hot right now, and kids are going mad for these little critters. That means that now is the perfect time to whip out our creature masks — but we have to make them first! Making masks is one of the most fun activities for kids, and luckily it’s pretty easy so it’s an ideal task for a rainy day. Believe it or not, you only need 8 materials:
- Plain paper plates
- Coloured paper or card
- Craft knives
- Acrylic paint
- Colouring pens, pencils, or markers
- Plastic straws
Your kids can make any type of mask they can dream up, but here’s some inspiration to get you started:
You need just 1 paper plate for this mask — yes, just one! — so you can save the rest for other craft projects and other fun activities for kids, like the cool, sly fox mask that we’ve detailed below.
STEP 1: Supervise your children as they cut a paper plate in half using safety scissors (if you have very young children, you may wish to do this part for them to prevent any little accidents).
STEP 2: One half of the plate will be the rabbit’s face. With the other half, cut out 2 sausage shapes for the ears (make sure the end of each sausage is on the ruffled edge of the plate to make the ears ‘fluffy’).
STEP 3: Cut out whiskers, eyes, a mouth, and cheeks from colour paper or card, or simply from white paper. Your kids can always get creative with their pens and crayons to add a bit of vibrancy and tone.
STEP 4: Pierce two eye holes in the plate using a pair of scissors. You might want to do this part yourself, especially if you decide to use sharp ones to cut through the cardboard cleanly!
STEP 5: Glue everything together, and finish off by taping a plastic straw or lolly stick onto the back of the mask. This means your kids can hold the mask up to their face and really get into character!
This fox mask gives your kids even more opportunity to show off their creative skills. We’ve designed our fox mask to look cute and cuddly, but your kids can make theirs as mean or mischievous as they like.
STEP 1: Like the rabbit mask, start by cutting a paper plate in half, as you’ll only need half of the plate to make the fox’s face. Keep an eye on your little ones to make sure they’re using the scissors responsibly.
STEP 2: From the middle of the straight edge of the plate, draw a ‘V’ shape, ending the lines halfway up the mask. Extend the lines out to each edge. This will make the nose and give your fox a bit of detail.
STEP 3: Paint above the line, and down into the ‘V’ shape. Then cut out eyes, pointy ears, and cheeks. You can do this from coloured paper, or use white paper and colour in the details with pens or pencils.
STEP 4: Pierce two eye holes as before – remember to be careful with the scissors!
STEP 5: Again, glue everything together, and finish off by taping a plastic straw or lolly stick onto the back of the mask. Now that you have two animal masks, your kids can mix and match whenever they want!
More Ideas for Fun Activities for Kids
There’s much more to making masks than the ideas we’ve shared above. Why not be bold and branch out from animals to cartoon characters, superheroes, or ‘garden masks’ complete with pretty flowers or creepy crawlies? There’s no limit to what you and your kids can do. It’s time to get those thinking caps on!
Ame Rukwongsa writes about helping kids learn about making crafts. You can find some of her crafts at OMO Activites for kids.
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