It rained on and off here this last week and I decided
to try something simple for our kid friendly craft project; we made paper plate
pets. This is essentially simple masks made out of paper plates and paint. Regardless
of how simple the concept is, this project entertained my children for hours…
yes I said HOURS!
Have you made masks with your children, if so what did you use?
These paper plate pets were really simple
to make and the kids have already requested to do this activity again. I told
my son that he was only limited by his imagination; he could make whatever he
wanted. He ran with this idea.
What you need:
Paper Plates
Scissors
Tempura Paint {washable}
Paint Brushes/Sponges
How to Make It:
Take the paper plates and cut out eye holes. {If
your child is old enough and can use scissors this is a great activity for them
to work on their fine motor skills}
Make little paint pallets for the kids and
hand them paint brushes/sponges.
Let the kids paint!
Once the masks are painted set aside for
about 1-2 hours to dry.
Once masks are dry, let the kids pick out
masks to wear and let their imaginations run wild!
We spent about 2 hours cutting and painting
paper plate masks and then we spent a couple hours playing with them in the
afternoon once they we dry. My oldest son who can be shy about his artistic
ability really embraced this activity with enthusiasm. He made personality masks
{Silly Man, Happy Man, Scary Man} instead of paper plate pets… but I was just happy
that he wanted to do this all on his own – as he usually asks the adult nearby
to “help” create something for him.
I sat down with the kids and created masks
based on their requests. These “mom made” masks are my youngest sons favorite
ones to play with, but my older son would rather play with the masks he made –
which I am very happy about {this tells me that he thinks his creations are
just as good if not better than moms… that he values his work}.
This was some of the most fun I have ever had
painting with my kids. They really enjoyed creating masks and had an even
better time playing with the end products! So often we paint something and then
never look at it again. I really liked that the kids spent a long time working
on this product and then came back to it once it was finished to play with some
more.
Have you made masks with your children, if so what did you use?
