Tribal Masks by 3rd, 4th and 5th Grades

 

These awesome tribal-inspired masks were created in about three class periods. This was a great "art on a shoestring" project--we used a styrofoam plate, some raffia straw, tempera paint and black oil pastel and marker. First, I had students sketch their mask design on the back of a plate with permanent marker. I had about twenty examples of masks from all cultures and many different time periods, so I encouraged them to draw some aspects of their designs from observation. 

Next, I had the students paint on the plate in very thin layers of tempera (only because we are out of acrylic, which I would have preferred). The tempera worked well if applied in small quantities with a tiny brush. After the masks dried, the students used black oil pastel to create definition and contrast in the original design, which got somewhat lost under the painted surface. 

Finally, the students punched holes in the edge of the plate for hair or a beard and strung raffia strands in each hole about 2-3 at a time and knotted it into place. Raffia Alert: it is very messy to work with if you have not used it already, but it looks super fantastic on mask projects like these. We also used gel markers on some parts of the plate (the neon areas), which actually adhered to the surface really well!