Looking for a simple activity? This Gruffalo Mask is ideal & super easy for all ages to make. It even doubles up as a bag too!
2 strong brown paper bag with handles
A5 sheets of card/paper (1 of each colour) orange, white, green & brown
Black pen
Scissors & glue.
To create our Gruffalo Mask we started by cutting out two small circles from the orange card for his eyes. Taking the white card we cut out random square shapes for his terrible teeth, along with 2 terrible tusks, & two horns for the top of his head.
He was almost ready, we just needed some ears & of course that nose with a green wart! We used another brown paper bag to cut out the shape for his ears, & as the bag was folded we only needed to cut the shape of one ear. This meant both ears were the same size too, how neat! Finally, we used the brown card for his nose & cut out a small green circle for his wart. If you don't fancy cutting out tiny green circles then green sticky dots are a simpler alternative.
(If you're making these with a large group of children, or at a children's party, you might want to precut the shapes for the mask to save time, but if you do have the time it's much more fun for the children to create their own shapes & mask details.)
When your Gruffalo features are ready you can start to create his face! We glued the orange eyes first & then carefully pushed a ballpoint pen through the centre to create a small hole that the children could see clearly out of. To create the Gruffalo's mouth we thought about how the Gruffalo was feeling, & decided he was happy so drew on a smile before sticking his scary teeth around it & adding all the other features.
This is a fun activity for younger children to explore facial features, & recall the names of them as they position them on. It's also an opportunity to explore shapes, colours, fine motor skills & hand-eye coordination.
Once all the features were attached we added eyebrows & details on the ears with a pen, now our Gruffalo was ready to party!
If you needed a last minute dressing up outfit for your kids, you could team the mask with some brown trousers & a brown jumper with purple prickles (card triangles) on the back.
I love that these Gruffalo Masks can double up as party bags or loot bags for an event. Such a neat way to reduce the amount of plastic/paper used at a party. Of course, when the bags are emptied at home, the mask can be used again for storytelling or imaginative play! And when it's finished with, it can be recycled. Brilliant!
If you're looking for follow-up activities for younger children you could:
:: Use the masks as props for retelling & acting out the story
:: Explore facial features alongside the Gruffalo's. Who has the biggest eyes? Who has more teeth? Where are the Gruffalo's ears, are yours in the same place? etc.
:: Encourage the children to explore emotions using mirrors to observe how their faces change with different emotions. Can you make a scary face? Can you make your face look like the Gruffalo? I wonder how the Gruffalo is feeling, does he look happy/sad/scared?
If you're looking for more fun Gruffalo activities you might like our: