Wild Animal Paper Plate Masks

What you need

• Plate or tray, 1 paper plate per mask
• Crayons or markers, a handful
• Painter's tape, a roll of tape
• Kid scissors, 1 pair
• Paper, 1 to 2 sheets for ears
• Yarn, 4 to 6 short pieces per mask
• Craft sticks, 1 per mask
• Towel, 1 folded

How to do it

Grown-up prep: Set out paper plates, crayons, yarn, tape, craft sticks, kid scissors and a few sheets of paper. For kids under about 6, poke a small starter hole for each eye with the tip of a pair of scissors before you begin, so little hands only need to widen it. Cut yarn into short whisker lengths, no longer than a hand. Keep loose yarn and paper scraps off the floor and out of reach of younger siblings, since small bits can be a choking risk. Clear a walking path for the parade.

1. Pick your animal, then hold the plate up to your face. Ask for help if you need it
   Ask: What animal are you going to be, and what sound does it make?
2. A grown-up pokes a small starter hole in each eye mark. A grown-up does this
3. Make each eye hole bigger by snipping slowly around the circle. Ask for help if you need it
4. Color the plate to look like your animal's face.
5. Tape a few short yarn pieces near the nose for whiskers.
6. Draw two ears on paper, cut them out and tape them on top. Ask for help if you need it
   Ask: Should your ears be pointy, round or long and floppy?
7. Tape a craft stick to the bottom of the plate as a handle.
8. Hold an animal parade! Walk, no running, moving and sounding like your animal.
9. Now invite your friends to join the parade, or make more masks!
   Ask: What brand-new animal will you become next?

Play it again

• Guess my animal: walk and make sounds without saying the name, and everyone else guesses.
• Animal freeze: parade slowly, and when a grown-up says freeze, hold your animal pose.
• Mask swap: trade masks with a friend and act like their animal.