Frugal Kid's Craft - Mardi Gras Mask

Here’s another great kid craft from Momondealz’s Kids Frugal Fun! The Mardi Gras holiday is over but February is referred to as Mardi Gras month so I thought the kids would love this craft!

Hand & Foot Print Mardi Gras Masks

Materials:
Multi-Colored Cardstock
Pencil & Glue
Popsicle Sticks (1-2 per mask created)
Decorations for the masks

Directions:
1. Trace your child’s hand and feet onto cardstock. If you choose to create a big mask (like above), you will need to have 4 cut outs of your feet and 4 of your hands.If you choose to create the small one, you will only trace each hand and make sure they connect at the wrist (see picture).

2. Cut out hands and feet and decorate.

3. Create a mask design and cut out.
4. Glue the feet and hands onto the mask design.
5. Glue the completed mask onto 1-2 popsicle sticks, depending on the size/style you chose.

Educational Activities:

Language Arts: 1. Take your child’s favorite book ( such as Jenny Giraffe’s Mardi Gras Ride (Jenny Giraffe Series)) and create masks to represent the characters in the book. Have your child “perform” the book using their masks.
2. Have your child focus on the letter C for Carnival and list all the things they see at a carnival.
Math: Use your child’s foot cutout to measure things around the house. This is known as nonstandard measurement and is an important kindergarten skill.
Social Studies/History: In the United States, Mardi Gras is believed to have started when French explorers landed Louisiana. Discuss with your child what an explorer is and ID famous ones (Christopher Columbus, etc).
Science: Read the book Timothy Hubble and the King Cake Party and make pancakes with your child. Discuss how solids become liquids, and then go back to solids again (pancake flour is solid, add water becomes liquid, and when you cook the pancakes they are solids again)