Plate Masks

Materials Needed:

• paper plates
• elastic
• cotton balls (for sheep masks)
• orange yarn (for lion masks)
• brown paint (for bear masks)
• whatever the ears are made of (e.g., construction paper or felt)
• ear patterns

Instructions:

Photocopy the ear patterns ahead of time, onto the appropriate colors of paper (or make stencils so the children can trace onto construction paper). For the lion, precut yarn into many pieces 3? - 4 inches long. (Each child will need a generous pile.)

Each child gets a paper plate and cuts along the embossed line around the middle of the plate, making a circular hole. Staple a strip of elastic to the edge of the plate in two places so that if the hole in the middle is placed over the child's face, the strip of elastic around the back of the head is just tight enough to keep the plate in place. (The bottom of the plate is the front of the mask, so the top side of the plate goes toward the child's face. For preschool, give them a pre-cut plate with the elastic already attached.)

Each child chooses an animal (sheep, bear, or lion). Each animal has inner and outer ears, which are different colors. The dotted line on the pattern represents the edge of the plate - the base of the ear glues onto the back of the mask, and the main part of the ear sticks out beyond the edge of the plate. Have each child cut out the inner and outer ears, left and right, and glue the inner ear onto the outer ear, before gluing the entire ear onto the plate.

For the lion, have the children glue yarn all around the edge of the plate to form a mane. Each strip of yarn starts at the inner edge of the plate and goes beyond the outer edge, so that it sticks out, making a mane.

For the sheep, have the children glue white cotton balls onto the plate, covering the entire surface.

For the bear, have the children paint the plate brown. (Hint: smaller brushes occupy the children longer.)