In searching for a craft project to do with the littles that was inspired by Thailand, I found Kohn masks. These are masks that are worn to represent demons in the classical dance form that is known as Kohn in Thailand. I thought that they would have a lot of fun with this project.
I have to confess that as a blogger who wants to succeed it took a long time for me to let go and let my littles choose their own direction while creating their projects. I kept finding myself trying to "help" them or "fix" things for them. Ultimately, it seemed that none of us were having any fun. I have learned to let go and let them create their own inspired projects. We have been having far more fun ever since.
I showed them images of Thai masks and handed them construction paper, scissors, glue and markers; the rest was up to them. They had a great time creating these masks and they are super proud of their finished products, as am I.
The first step was to decide what shape to use. I created a template for mine and Eliana decided to use my template. Aiden chose his own shape.
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| I couldn't get her to stop moving, so the blur will have to add to the thrill of creating the masks :) |
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| The starting point, card stock. |
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| Aiden cutting details to add to his mask. |
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| While she was working on this she said, "Mama, I am creating what my imagination is seeing!" Perfect. |
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| Aiden's completed mask. |
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| My completed mask, I hope symmetry isn't too important. |
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| The completed Kohn Demon trio. |
This project was a fun one for the kids, I left the computer open with images of different Kohn masks on the screen so that we could refer to them. Clearly each of us had our own idea of how we wanted to create our masks using some of the details that we saw as inspiration.
If you want to see more, I found this book while searching for masks. I have not actually looked at the book, but it looks fantastic and I wish I had it!
How do you let your littles be creative? Do you give them complete freedom or do you steer them in a direction? Have you found that their creations often come out far different than your original idea? If you are a blogger, do you feel more pressure to turn out perfection?
These are super cool! I am very much a "here's the art supplies, have fun, kids" kind of mom, although sometimes when I have a certain final product in mind (like 30 kid-drawn christmas ornaments, say), I do coerce them into creating what I want them to create. My littlest two have more of an issue with perfection, and will often ask me to draw something for them when they're afraid their own drawing won't be "good enough." I never know how to balance this--how much to help them out or how to encourage them that whatever they make is wonderful (you'd think the thousands of kid-created art works hanging around my house would convince them!).
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