Creating things by hand is a small but mighty way to explore Emotions, especially with kids.
In this post, I will show you a fun way to reproduce facial emotions, with just the shape of a mouth, in the activity, ‘Paper Plate Emotion Halloween Faces!’
Paper Plate Emotion Halloween Faces!
Picking up from where we left off about crafting facial emotions, we’re diving into a simple yet exciting activity: making paper plate masks.
These aren’t just any masks; we’ll be focusing on half-face masks that let kids mix their own eye magic with mouth expressions on the plate.
So what are face-masks, let’s check this out at Kids.Kiddle.com
Don’t forget to come back!
ANIMATE YOUR EYES!.
The beauty of these masks is that they keep the eyes unconcealed, leaving them free to flicker with whatever emotion fits the moment—think wide, terrified eyes or playful winks.
HALLOWEEN AHEAD OF US!
As Halloween creeps closer, these half-faces set the stage for something even spookier. Whether it’s through costume parades or spooky story nights, these masks have got Halloween vibes written all over them. With a ghostly gown, why not add a ghostly grin?
Before we move on, let’s take a quick peek at this short video on “why do we wear masks on Halloween?”
For our emotional face masks, there’s a whole line-up of characters to bring to life:-
- Happy could be your playful Clown.
- Sad becomes the forlorn Ghost.
- Angry turns into a fierce Monster.
- Surprise morphs into a mysterious Vampire.
The possibilities are limitless!
Masks aren’t just party starters; they’ve got stories and history tagging along. They’re part of the action in carnivals, fetes, and circuses, where faceless fun takes centre stage. Take carnivals, for example—whether it’s Mardi Gras or Venice, they thrive on the mystery and allure that masks bring.
Take carnivals, for example-whether it’s Mardi Gras or Venice, they thrive on the mystery and allure that masks bring.
MASKS AND SELF EXPRESSION!
In the world of circuses and theatre, masks do more than cover faces. They transform performers into characters, adding drama and enchantment.
Kids, too, can tap into this magic through simple crafts that let them embody different roles, sparking creativity and self-expression.
When Halloween rolls around, masks offer an extra layer of transformation. They’re bridges into worlds where the unusual and the spooky take over.
Throw on a mask, and suddenly you’re not just in a costume; you’re part of an age-old tradition of disguise and storytelling. It’s why masks amplify Halloween costumes, turning plain into thrilling.
MAKING EMOTIONAL FACE MASKS!
Kicking off the crafting fun means grabbing those trusty paper plates and a dash of imagination.
Here’s the rundown for turning simple materials into expressive face masks:
Let’s remind ourselves what the emotion faces look like in the previous post. I’m going to choose four emotions that I can tweak into different fiends!
First up is Happy—the vibe of a cheerful clown. All you need is some bright paint and a big smile cutout. Think reds and yellows to make it pop.
Sad brings out a ghostly side, perfect with soft greys or blues and some droopy lines to fashion a forlorn look. A touch of glitter can add that otherworldly glow.
Angry strikes with monster madness. Sharp angles, bold colours like deep reds or blacks, and maybe some faux fur make this mask a showstopper.
Surprise has all the mystery of a vampire. A hint of blood red around the edges and sharp, cut fangs bring it to life. It’s the perfect base for curious little eyes peeking through.
By encouraging kids to add their personal twists, each mask becomes a little more special. Everyone can join in on the mask-making craze and maybe find joy in crafting beyond paper plates.
ARE YOU READY?
RESOURCES!
- 4-5 paper plates.
- Some paper straws.
- Coloured chalks.
- Black fine-bold felt-tip pens.
- Masking tape.
- Scissors.
- Pencil/Rubber.
- A couple of printable emotion mouths.
Here are the 2 emotion mouths A4 PDF printables. Print out to help with drawing onto the paper plates, or cut out and stick on!
🖨️ Printing tip: For best results, print at 100% scale or Fit to printable area depending on your printer..
LET’S GET CRAFTING!
HOW TO USE MASKS!
EYES EXPRESS EMOTION!
They are fun, aren’t they? Your kids’ eyes can express the mouth emotion! Wide-eyed, for surprised, squinting for a laughing mouth or a sad look down!
Kids are great at doing facial expressions, and with their half-face masks, it would be such a giggle!
PLAY FUN GAMES!
You can play a game too. Have all the masks laid out, and you can call out an emotion, ‘you have something to laugh about, what emotion would that be? Perhaps ‘Happy?’
Or ‘How are you feeling today? Show me, and how can we change it, show me!…..and so on.
SOME TIPS!
TRANSFER MOUTH ON TO PLATE. FROM PRINTABLE
- Tape a printable of mouths onto the window so that light shines through.
- Take one half of the paper plate and tape over the chosen printable mouth.
- Make sure you align the mouth in the right place, then draw the mouth through it.
- Alternatively, cut out the mouth and stick it onto the plate.
CHALKING THE MOUTHS
- Working with chalks gives your work an air-brush finish.
- Gently transfer the chalk onto your image of the mouth and rub it in a circular motion, keep adding and build colour. Blow away lingering dust.
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HOLDING MASK UP!
- When you have completed your mask, turn over and tape one straw in place. This is what you use to hold up the mask.
Let’s now take what we have created and convert these great-looking mouths into Halloween characters!
Transforming Emotional Masks to Spooky Paper Plate Emotion Halloween Faces!
LET’S SPOOK UP THESE MASKS!
THE LAUGHING CLOWN!
Changing emotional masks into Halloween icons means bringing out your inner crafting wizard. Transforming Happy into a classic clown takes a few more steps.
Adding big, creepy eyes or a red nose takes it from playful to chilling.
HOW TO UPDATE INTO A CLOWN MASK!
So paint the whole face white, draw in raised eyebrows, shade the eyes in a bright colour eg. white, and don’t forget to paint the nose red!
This is as far as I got with painting my grandsons’ faces; your interpretation could be completely different. Keeping it very simple, just paint a red nose and find a fun hat, and you are good to go!
THE SPOOKY GHOST!
For the Sad mask, ghosts are the way to go. Elongate features, add some shadowy areas, and use a spray of glow-in-the-dark paint for that ethereal essence. Kids will love watching their ghostly half-faces shine under dim lights.
SOME IDEAS!
Find a way to droop the features or add stringy white crepe paper. As for the face paint, white, darken the eyes with black oval-shaped and dress up the hair with glitter spray or long bits of white crepe paper!
YOU CHOOSE!
This was my take on this mask. If you don’t use the printables and you decide to draw on the ghostly features, then it would work both ways. Whatever else you do is down to you, how far you go, but keeping it simple if you haven’t got time is just as effective!
HOW TO UPDATE INTO A GHOSTLY MASK!
I stuck long stringy strands of white crepe paper using a glue stick, and drew a large oval ghostly black mouth using a bold black felt-tip pen. And that’s it!
MONSTER VIBE!
Angry masks want monster mad highlights, so go wild with jagged teeth or extra horns for that fierce look.
Don’t hold back on colours like slime green or fiery red to really amp up the fright factor. (Consider adding simple sound gadgets under the mask for unexpected growls or howls.)
I did two angry mouths. I used the second angry mouth for the Halloween Monster mask, more of a growl!
TO POSE OR NOT TO POSE?
I was lucky to get my grandson to sit still for two face paintings, although there was a lot of movement, and after that I he lost patience and didn’t like the ghostly look!
So unfortunately, I only show the Monster mask and the Vampire mask on their own lol!
You can see how I adapted the mouths with a Halloween theme!
HOW TO UPDATE INTO A MONSTER MASK!
I added colour and stuck on little pieces of tissue paper to give it more texture. That’s all you need to do, and it works!
VAMPIRE-UNDEAD!
The Surprise vampire only needs menacing details like exaggerated fangs or a blood-red paint splash to sell the undead trick. A simple black cape or collar addition can make the transformation complete.
I couldn’t finalise this look, my grandson ran off at this point, but if you grease back the hair, paint on dark eyebrows with a tinted bluish face, I think that would do it!
HOW TO UP-DATE INTO A VAMPIRE MASK!
Here I grabbed some coloured felt-tips and some blue colouring pencils, added the fangs, red tips and some drips of blood, shaded the face in grey-blue to give the un-dead look, and voila, you have a vampirish face mask!
For me to face paint my grandson, the deal was if I paint his face, he gets to paint my face….however he wants!
So here I am, and I added just a little bit of fun to it, too! 😈
HERE’S A SUPER QUICK AND EASY ACTIVITY, TO WHACK TOGETHER, WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE MUCH TIME….
Go simple, an ordinary paper bag, draw features and cut out eyes…….or empty packaging boxes, colour monster features in black and viola you have easy Halloween monster heads!
Hey there, when you click on links in this post and you make a purchase, I may earn a small commission that l can use towards resources (other than throw-outs) for project making within my website
If you are looking for fun as well as great Halloween mask activities. Whether it’s ready-made, colouring in ones or easy kits, then look no more as Etsy has a super range in all types of adventurous mask kits!
So check them out here!
For all your art resources, colouring pencils, or pens check out CRAFTY ARTS
For coloured chalks check here.
Since 1991 CRAFTY ARTS, have been providing artists and enthusiastic amateurs alike with all the materials they could need for their creativity and passion and their passion is all things arts, crafts and hobby.
TO CONCLUDE!
In this post, I show how you can produce six different facial emotions, each on half a paper plate!
Add paper straws to the back, and your kids can hold them up to their faces, and their eyes can complement each emotion!
Thereafter, as Halloween is soon upon us, these masks can also double up with a monster theme!
So act quickly, and if you miss out, this is still a fun project to do at any time!
The previous post ‘Crafting kids facial emotions‘ offers an opportunity to see how I converted printables from live photos of facial expressions.
This is a great resource for children to identify their emotion, colour it in and add emotional words to it, and then have a discussion why they chose that emotion and how to deal with it.
I also offer a free printable to have a go at, too!
This post is being updated and will be added soon!
Hey Julia,
These are great ideas for Halloween, but I think we could use your techniques and tips for Christmas too.
I am going to share this article with my friends who have young children, and see how they can leverage your ideas for Christmas. If they do then I’ll let you know and if I can share any photos with you then I will do so.
Keep up the amazing work you do my friend.
All the best,
Tom
Hey Tom, glad you liked these ideas for Halloween! I am fortunate enough to have my grandson as a model he is very enthusiastic and so keen, at times,although kids being kids can get bored quite easily and as in my case left me hanging in the air lol. Easy activity and lots of fun. So please pass them on to those who have crafty kids as well.
Thanks for your great comment and hope you had a super Halloween too!
Julia😈