It’s August and normally back-to-school time. Some children will be in live classrooms this fall, some schooling from home, but how to keep kids safe and demystify mask-wearing is top of mind for lots of us. I thought getting to paint their own fabric mask could be a good way to give a child a feeling of participation and ownership in the process. I purchased white cotton masks in adult and child sizes, but if you enjoy sewing, you could make your own masks from white cotton.

Needed Materials:

• White cotton masks in adult or child size. I ordered mine on amazon. Here are the links I used:
• Child size – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B087N1HLRF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
• Adult size – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B085CNR5QQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
• Fabric markers (The ones I used were fine tip and I liked that much better than others I have used in the past. With the fine tip you can really get a nice level of detail.)
• Roll of paper towels – this is to drape the mask over while you are painting it (see picture above). It makes it easier to work with the rounded shape and also keeps paint from bleeding through onto other surfaces.
• I sketched my designs first on paper. Small children will not be interested in this step – they want to get right to painting, but for older kids, this is a good time to introduce the idea of a sketchbook. If you want to do that, you’ll just need a sketchbook, drawing pencil and eraser.

Instructions:

This project is easy, quick to complete and the how-to is really self evident. You just plan out your design and get to coloring.

Extras:

I found this book called Lucy’s Mask by Lisa Sirkis Thompson, illustrated by John Thompson. Finn absolutely loved this book and watched attentively the whole time I was reading, with lots of comments and discussion from him. I am finding he particularly enjoys books about boys and girls near his own age, trying new things and having adventures.

I looked for a kid’s song about mask wearing and there are many online if you just google. The one I liked the best was this one by Drs. Pop ‘n Bop. The easy chorus “ABC, 123, everyone’s got a mask around me” sticks in your mind, the tune is catchy and the graphics are fun :

Results:

Finn really took to this project. When I started explaining how to plan out the design, he told me he already knew that he wanted to paint a rainbow on his mask. I think it turned out great and you can see from his smiley eyes that he was very happy with it.

While Finn was working on his mask, I painted a personalized one for my husband, Jerry, who is a master of all things mechanical.

I’ve already mentioned that Finn loved the book Lucy’s Mask and he also enjoyed the song by Drs. Bop ‘n Pop. I found myself wishing that I could teach this module to some of the adults I have seen around town who could use some further instruction in proper mask wearing.