Making face masks is a simple and fun craft activity you can enjoy with kids of all ages. And once you have a completed face mask, your kids can get busy dressing up and playing imaginary games. Our animal face mask templates makes it easy and include a colour-in option.
This mask-making activity not only makes for a great thing to do on a rainy day, but can bring out the storyteller in your little animal.
The relationship between drama and the development of literacy skills among young children is well documented, and nothing encourages dramatic re-enactment more than masks and dressing up. Play-acting as animals can develop literacy skills such as:
- Story understanding
- Reading comprehension.
What you will need
- Animal face mask template (see links below)
- Coloured pencils
- Scissors
- Craft knife
- Glue or sticky tape
- String or elastic
Animal mask templates
Creating the masks
Open the animal face mask template and print out. (If the link doesn’t open, copy the link and paste it into your browser).
If you’re using the black and white template, colour in both the animal face and the separate nose section.
Cut out both shapes.
Cut along the dotted lines in the animal face to allow the nose to slot into place.
Taking the nose, fold down along the dotted lines using the edge of a ruler to get a straight edge.
Glue or tape the ‘paste’ tabs under the side nose fold.
Attach the nose by slotting each tab into the matching tab slit in the mask. When each tab is in place, glue each to the underside of the mask. (See the additional instructions on the template for the elephant’s ears).
Place sticky tape over the tab on each side of the mask for added strength, then make a hole through the tape and the tab using a hole punch.
Tie a length of string or elastic to each side of the mask so it holds firmly to your child’s face.
This article was written for Kidspot New Zealand.
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The templates are so cute. My kids love playing with masks and pretneidng to be animals. And they love crafting. This ticks all the boxes, and might be just the ticket for school holiday fun ☺️ especially if we end up with a wet Easter.
Mr 4 loves spideman! Mr 10 loves being a footballer! These marks would make a great party game. Thanks for sharing.
the tiger mask looks awesome. I think that my boys would love a dinosaur one as they already love pretending that they are dinosaurs.
A fun activity that has multiple uses …craft making to make the mask itself, then imaginative play, then story telling and then collage making using the masks to form a big poster of animals. It’s the activity that gives on giving. 😛
These are so cute! Our daughter is getting more into dressing up and role-playing so this is a great opportunity to encourage some animal play too.
These are so cute!! My kids love to dress up, they would really enjoy these!
This is cool 2 of my kids would love this a great weekend or school holiday thing to do. It’s funny how kids put on a mask and turn into a different person what fun it is.
These are great! What kid doesn’t like pretending to be an animal haha. Awesome templates, I’m going to print some off for my 6 year old and I do make together 🙂