It was made from a large, brown paper bag.

Two holes were cut out for the eyes, and around the eyes were painted circles in red and blue. The round cut-outs were stuck on the sides like ears and those were also painted in blue.

There were red patches on the face like cheeks, and a nose shaped like a triangle, which was painted in bright green. Dark black eyebrows and red lips were also painted on. For hair, he had stuck on old strings from a mop which were coloured brown.

When the children came in for their story surprise, the mask was on Teacher Jean's desk. Each day the class was treated to a surprise story. They all crowded around for a closer look.

"What a cool mask," said Jana.

"Whose is it?" asked E.J.

"How did you make it?" asked Leah, who knew that Kassim had made the mask.

"What are you going to do with it?" asked Jason.

"All in good time," said Teacher Jean. "Let us sit down and Kassim will tell us the story of his surprise.”

"My brother helped me to make the mask," said Kassim with a proud smile.

"On Saturday, we were helping my mother to put away the grocery shopping. When we were finished, my brother folded up all of the bags and put them away, except this one. My brother never throws away anything. He says as soon as he throws away something, he finds that he needs it. So he keeps all kinds of great stuff in the garage to make fun things. He calls it recycling. Yesterday, we went into the garage and he showed me how to make this mask."

"How long did it take to make the mask?" asked Minnie.

"Not long," said Kassim. "And it was fun. Later on some of my friends who live nearby, came over, and my brother promised he would show us how to make more masks and costumes."

"What are you going to do with them?" asked Jason.

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"Well, we think that we can put on a play for our parents and older brothers and sisters. We can have it in the backyard one evening."

"What will the play be about?" asked Leah.

"We'll make it up as we go along," said Kassim.

"What we really want to do is wear masks and costumes.”

Some easy questions for you

1. What is grocery shopping?

2. What was the mask made from?

3. Why does Kassim's brother keep everything?

4. What is a play?

5. Find the word recycle in your dictionary. Name ten things you can recycle.

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