Parents often find themselves in charge of making fancy dress outfits. Whether it’s an angel costume for the school nativity or a themed outfit for a birthday party, there’s often a need to get your creative hat on. If your kids are dino mad, the chances are that at some point you’ll be required to create a dinosaur costume, and a key part of this is a dinosaur mask. Here’s how to make sure your kids look the part.

You’ll need:

- A toy hard hat or similar

- Old magazines or newspapers

- Cardboard

- Flour

- Hot glue

- Tape

- Paint

- 2 balloons

Step 1: Take your hat and cut up some cardboard strips. Tape them on to create the shape of the top jaw. Arch another piece of cardboard over the first cardboard extension to make the snout.

Step 2: Blow up your balloons until they’re about the size of your fist, and tape them to the top of the hat to create the eye mould. Next, cover all the gaps with tape and strips of card to create the shape of the head. You will paper mache over this, so try to make it smooth without holes.

Step 3: To make the paper mache, fill a bowl with flour and add enough water for it to become like a liquidy paste. Dip your strips of magazine or newspaper into it and lay them over the head. After one or two layers, you will need to let the paper mache dry. This takes about a day, although you can speed up the process a little by popping it next to a radiator or out in the sunshine.

Step 4: Once you have a head shape that you’re happy with, add a layer of brown or white paper to make the mask easy to paint.

Step 5: Paint your dino head in your child’s chosen colour(s). You can make it as realistic or cartoony as you choose. If you want a realistic head, use brown paper on your final layer and paint with black or brown. You can then dab at the paint with kitchen towel to make the brown paper show through and create a leathery, reptilian effect. 

Step 6: Cut out some cardboard teeth, taking care to leave enough room to glue them on. Paint them white, then use hot glue to attach them to the inside of the top jaw.

Step 7: Cut out eyes from coloured card and glue them onto the mask, then add any finishing touches such as nostrils on the snout or horns.

This mask is a straightforward creation that is great for any dinosaur event, from a birthday party to Book Week or Halloween.