Measure the eye area on each child's mask and cut out eyeholes. Give children brightly colored paints to paint their masks. After the paint has dried, children can decorate their masks with feathers, sequins, and decorative fabric trimming. Glue a craft stick to one side of the mask or attach elastic thread to each side of the mask. It is a tradition to wear colorful beads during Mardi Gras.
Children can make carnival beads from salt clay or self-drying pottery clay.
Provide children with a small amount of clay. Invite all of the children to roll small pieces of clay into different shapes. Then provide children with straws, toothpicks, and pencils to use for making the holes in their beads. Place the finished beads on a tray to dry. Children can use tempera paint to decorate their beads.