Catalina Gutierrez of Redviolet Studio shares how to create magic animal masks for kids, inspired by artist Joan Miró.
Updated August 2024
“I want to see large birds, snakes and creatures of the night in pictures.”– Joan Miró
I have a long, and I mean a LONG list of favorite artists that inspire me day after day to do art with children.
Joan Miró is among the top of this list as his art is so colorful and relatable. It’s full of shapes and lines – so magical and inspiring to children (and adults too)!
I have done a few projects based on his work before, but these animal masks inspired by Antony Penrose’s book, “Miró’s Magic Animals” and by the artist’s wonderful paintings of fantastic animals, really sparked the kids’ interests and imaginations.
After reading the book and learning a little about Miró’s life, we saw some of his paintings of magic animals tried to figure out what they saw and give names to the animals in Miró’s paintings.
After this discussion, I asked the kids to think about what their magic animal would look like. We came up with all sorts of animal mixes, getting the kids fired up and ready to start working on their creative animal masks!
Here’s how to make your own animal masks based on Miró’s Magic Animals!
How to Make Animal Masks for Kids
MATERIALS
- Recycled Cardboard, with some pieces already cut out into mask shapes
- scissors
- glue
- acrylic paint in various colors
- colored paper shapes
- collage pieces like, felt pieces, foam shapes, googly eyes, yarn, cut straws
- paintbrushes
- dowels (optional)
- hot glue gun
- exacto knife
INSTRUCTIONS
- Cut out the animal mask shapes
First, start by cutting out the shape of the mask using recycled cardboard and an Exacto knife or sturdy kitchen scissors.
If you are working with more than one kid at a time cut the masks differently; be creative and silly! - Paint the animal masks
Then set out the pre-cut masks and invite the children to paint them. Cover the animal masks completely with the acrylic paint.
Remind the children to think about their magic animal face, What does it look like?
Encourage them to cover the whole mask in paint, using different colors and shapes.
- Cut, glue and paste on animal features
Bring in the glue and most of the supplies you gathered for the project: paper, felt, sticks, cardboard pieces, eyes, foam, straws, cardboard shapes, etc.
These are mainly things I had around my studio, but you can pretty much include any item you have that may be fun to add features to the animal masks.
Ask the kids to think about what the animal’s facial features look like: the eyes, nose, and mouth. Will it be a large one or a tiny one filled with sharp teeth? - Add hair to animal masks
Bring out the yarn, pre-cut in long strands and in different colors and see what happens. Most of the children started adding hair and beards to their animals.
It was so fun to watch how the masks mutated into something more fun and fantastic every minute of the process. - Add a dowel rod to the mask
Glue a dowel (with a glue gun) to the back of the mask once it’s dry and take all the animals out on a parade!
The children loved showing off their masks and discussing with each other what they created and the special powers their animals had.
I hope you get a chance to try making these amazing animal masks for kids!
More Animal Art Activities for Kids
- How to Make a Fish Craft from Nature Items
- How to Paint Halloween Cats
- How to Make Paper Wings for Kids
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