Sixth graders spent the last bimester creating Egyptian style plaster masks. We designed them on paper, molded them with plaster gauze, painted them with all sorts of fun colors, and then added a background so that they could be mounted on a wall. Here are some examples:

Mario and his mask. The students used plastic mask molds to create the plaster part of their project. When they asked why we weren’t using their actual faces, I told them it’s because I had a traumatizing experience as a child. If you want the full story you’ll have to ask my mom;)

Adding a headdress was highly encouraged in order to make the masks look more like the Egyptian burial masks we learned about.

Regina and her mask.

While glitter was encouraged, proper glitter usage was also discussed. My example was: gold shoes with jeans and a black t-shirt = cute, gold shoes with gold pants, a gold shirt and gold jewelry = you’re going to blind someone!! You want people to enjoy your project, not be blinded by it;)

I passed out a hieroglyphic alphabet so some students chose to add lettering to their masks (although the letters on the lips are this student’s signature).

I love watching them glue yarn hair on and then give their mask a haircut so that it looks the right length!