Art Facilitation 02.4

Making masks

Theme: ‘My feelings’

This gives opportunity to explore feelings in the individual and the family.

Aim:

• To informally explore and identify feelings: sad, happy, angry, fear, and surprise.
• To develop a vocabulary, visually and verbally (feeling words and feeling colours), for feelings through discussion.
• To have an opportunity to express feelings by making a mask; showing emotion through colour and line.

Activity

• You can give each child a mirror and ask them to pull faces at themselves, making the different expressions of feelings such as sad, happy, angry, fear and surprise. You can also ask them “what does your mother/ brother/ father etc. look like when they are feeling (fill in the gap)…?”
• Discussion can also involve other questions like: “what happens when (fill in the gap)….what do you feel?”
• Using paper plates, they can draw a face, theirs of someone else’s. They can fill the colour in with paint or collage or oil / chalk pastels    

Materials:

• paper plates
• pencils
• paint 
• oil or chalk pastels
• magazines for collage
• string

Instructions:

You can prepare an example of the different facial expressions beforehand to inspire the children but the main aim is to get them expressing themselves. This is why I like to give them mirrors. Those who are developing an appreciation for realism might prefer to have some reference from which to work. The wide range of materials gives them variety and choice to express freely and uniquely.

When drawing the face the eyes need to be positioned according to the child’s eye position. After the face has been finished eye holes need to be cut, holes at the temples are cut for attaching the string which is tied behind. A third string can be attached from the top at the forehead for more stability. A hole can be cut for the mouth too if so desired.

When the masks are finished they can be used in role play or free play.