Masks!

Creating a mask isn't just about the art, it's about creating a new character and bringing that character to life.

The children were asked to design a character that they would like to create - an animal, insect, creature, alien or what ever they could come up with! So out came their portfolio books and the designing began.

Next step was to give each child a blank template half-face mask - prepared beforehand by me from white card - as we only have an hour class and decorating is more important than cutting!

As I unveiled the table with all of the materials on it - much to my delight - the little ones exclaimed with various "awwww"s, "ooooh"s as they discovered:

Glitter glue, PVC glue, Glue-sticks, felt, foam, feathers, wiggly eyes, wool, paper and card in many colours, sparkly straw, faux fur...have I missed anything? Yes, I may have....but you get the idea!

Let the mask making commence!

I couldn't believe some of the ideas they came up with! It's brilliant to see their little imaginations going into overdrive. Most gathered what they wanted and sat on the floor to create, going back and forth to choose their materials.

There were many changes of mind, so things were added, then removed until they were happy with the result.

One girl decided to empty the entire bag of wool and blue sparkly straw onto the floor and sort through to find how many pink strands she could find! Now that's organisation for you!

Our little 3 year old was determined to glue as many items as possible to her mask front and back. I'm pleased to tell you that she succeeded, although I did have to explain that a full ball of wool would not remain glued and she would have to cut strands off!

Here's the front of her beautiful creation:

There are spaces for your eyes to look through in there somewhere....!

Here's a Bunny Rabbit complete with faux fur and whiskers:

An Alien with many eyes and sparkly orange cheeks:

Another multi-eyed Alien with feather & wool for brains - yes, they're his brains, that's what I was told!

And a bear with white fur, glitter & pointy ears:

Ooooh the colours! I wish we could have a parade!

We knotted elastic through the holes at the sides so that they could wear the masks on their faces.

Next week we will make Salt Dough decorations. We are all so excited about that!