One of the world’s favourite animals, the lion is a beautiful and intelligent creature. Follow our simple steps to create the perfect lion mask, so you can be just as loud and strong! ROAR!
At Chester Zoo, we have three very rare Asiatic lions called Iblis, Kumari and Kiburi. As well as sleeping a lot (up to 20 hours a day!), our lions love to play with each other, just like you! Iblis is a very handsome male with a big, fluffy mane. Can you make a mask that looks like him?
To create the mask, you are going to need a couple of things. Ask a parent or guardian for help if you’re struggling to find something. For the base of the mask, you’ll need a paper plate, just like the ones you get at parties. We’ll paint this with some yellow paint, and then use either felt or coloured paper for the mane. You can chose brown, orange or red for the mane, or even all of them!
If you’ve got everything you need, let’s get started!
1. To start, you need to cut two eyeholes out of the paper plate. Draw around something circular, like the end of a Pritt Stick, and then cut out the circles. The cutting can be quite difficult, so ask someone if you need help. You could even get them to draw where your eyes are so that the mask fits perfectly.
2. Paint the front of the paper plate yellow. If it looks a bit pale, paint on a second layer.
3. While the paint dries, cut up some stripes of coloured paper or felt to make the mane. Paper is easier to stick to the paper plate, but felt feels the most like fur. These strips can be as long and thin as you want. Some lions have really long manes. Remember, the thinner the strips, the more you’ll need to cover the edge of the paper plate.
4. Cut out a nose from some brown paper or felt. It looks a bit like an upside down triangle.
5. When the paint is fully dry, use some glue to stick the strips all around the edge of the plate. If you have used more than one colour, you could arrange them in a pattern or keep it random.
6. Next, glue the nose to the centre of the paper plate.
7. To add some detail, use a black or brown pen to draw on a mouth and some whiskers. You can copy our design or make yours look extra smiley! Draw the lines in pencil first, just in case you make a mistake.
8. To finish it off, you will need to sellotape some sort of stick to the bottom. This will be the handle you hold onto. We taped together two lollipop sticks painted orange, but you can use anything that is long and sturdy.
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Why not get your friends or siblings to join as well, and help make a whole pride of lions? Send us a photo of you with your mask on, using #letsplayatchesterzoo.