A Fun Billy Goats Gruff Paper Plate Mask Craft

This post is contributed by Jennifer of Study at Home Mama.  Jennifer will be sharing creative kids’ ideas regularly at B-Inspired Mama.

Make Billy Goats Gruff Come Alive with a Mask Craft!

One of my favorite things to do with my kids after reading a new story is encourage them to do a craft inspired by what we just read.

This year, we are paying special attention to nursery rhymes and classic folk tales and first up is The Three Billy Goats Gruff.

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Are you familiar with the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff? You can check out a sweet retelling here; basically, the 3 billy goats try to cross a bridge to get to some delicious looking grass but are stopped by a mean troll living under the bridge. The goats work together to outsmart the troll and make their way to the other side.

I’m planning on doing some fun goat-inspired gross motor activities so I wanted the kids to create something that would help my kids transform into goat kids!

This paper plate goat mask craft was super easy to make and required very few materials — all items I already had in our craft cupboard.

I love giving children the opportunity to make something “useful” so that they attach a sense of importance to their “work.” Part of that is also offering crafts that they can successfully complete (mostly) independently, without me hovering or correcting.

Billy Goats Gruff Mask Craft

Goat Mask Craft Materials:

• paper plate (one per child)
• neutral colored paint
• paintbrushes
• cotton balls
• glue
• hole punch
• yarn or string
• scissors

Steps:

Have the children paint the masks using the paintbrushes or cotton balls. This is a great opportunity to explore shades and tints, as well as the different textures created by different painting tools. How can you make a color darker or lighter? What texture does the cotton ball make with the paint?

Once the paint has dried, cut out the bottom sections of the plate as shown in the picture to create a “goat chin” and form the shapes for the ears.

Staple or glue the ears to the top of the paper plate. If using glue, you may want to use a laundry clip to hold the ears in place as they dry. (I was not that patient.)

Cut out holes for their eyes, and use a hole puncher to create symmetrical holes just below the goat’s ears for the yarn.

Measure how much yarn you will need by wrapping a length around your child’s head, at the top of their ears. Cut a long enough strand to wrap all the way around as you will need a bit of extra yarn for tying the ends.

Have your child add glue and cotton balls wherever they think the goats need a bit of fuzz. Our goats received some fuzzy chins inspired by the Wiggle’s Song “I Like Goats.”

Allow the glue to dry, and then try on your Billy Goats Gruff masks!

Furrr-bulous! Now see if the children can make goat bleats, or remember lines from the story, or just hop about like a goat!

Have you ever done a mask craft with your kids?  Share about it in the comments below!

More Crafts for Kids from Study at Home Mama:

More Craft Ideas from B-Inspired Mama:

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This post may contain affiliate links.  Please see my disclosure policy.