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Have fun making a Calaverita Paper Plate Mask with the kids as they pan ahead for Day of the Dead celebrations. Paper Plates, candies and simple and inexpensive supplies are all you need to make these fun masks.

Supplies

Paper plates or large round sheets of paper
REESE’S PIECES Candy, ROLO’ Caramels in Milk Chocolate or other small Hershey’s Candies
Popsicle sticks, straws or pencils
Markers, colored pencils or crayons
Black construction paper
Scissors
Tape
Glitter or other fun things to decorate with

Instructions

First, grab a paper plate, a pencil or marker and some scissors. You’ll start by cutting out your calaverita shape from your paper plate. Here are some ideas on how best to do that.

Estimate the center of the plate and mark it with your pencil or marker.

Using the center dot as your guide, draw two lines intersecting at the center. One line should be vertical, while the other is horizontal, like a cross.

Next, draw two more lines using all previous drawn lines as your guide. These two lines will mark an X on your plate and divide up the spaces between the first two lines.

To make your calaverita cheeks, the first thing you will need to do is position the plate in front of you with the X lines looking like an X.

Find the center points on either side of each diagonal line on the bottom half of the plate. Mark with your pencil or marker and then draw an arc from point to point, these are your calaverita cheeks!

From the top point of each cheek, follow the curve of the paper plate to draw the rest of your skull and cut out.

Next up are the eyes and nose of your calaverita. You can use a black marker or paint or you can have your kids cut shapes from black paper. The nose of your mask should be an upside down heart and the eyes should be large orbs. Use the paint or marker to mark the mouth of your calavera along the vertical ridges of the paper plate.

Now it is time to decorate. Symmetry is important in a calaverita’s decoration. Have your kids do one side of their skull, and then have them repeat what they did to the other. The more color the better. Whatever you choose to do, have fun!

Decorate with REESE’S PIECES Candy, ROLO’ Caramels in Milk Chocolate or other small Hershey’s Candies. Add finishing touches with glitter and/or sequins.

If you want, you can leave the eyes as decorative or carefully punch eyeholes for your kids.

Set aside to dry and tape a popsicle stick or two to the back and you have a calaverita mask!

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© The Hershey Company
© The Hershey Company is the largest producer of quality chocolate in North America and a global leader in chocolate and sugar confectionery and is headquartered in Hershey, Pa.