4th Grade Papier Mache Masks 

Days: 6, 40 minute class periods

Supplies:  Papier mache (I mix mine with glue, flour, and water), cut paper strips, milk/plastic jugs, painting supplies, add-ons of your choice

Vocabulary: masks, cultures, connectivity

In 4th grade, we focus all year on different cultures.  I love to start with masks - we talk about different cultures and how masks were created in EVERY culture.  There's something about creating a mask that connects us as humans - people thousands of years ago in Japan were making them, hundreds of years ago in Alaska, etc.  It's a great common human experience, like a Mandala.

This year, I jumped right into papier mache with GREAT results.  Typically I like to leave 3-D art until later, but the kids have been so engaged and on task.  We are loving it.

We started by watching a video, Masks from Many Cultures, a Crystal production.  I typically only have them watch about half of it, prefaced by a short discussion on connectivity and culture and followed by them drawing a mask inspired by something they saw. 

 

 

 

 

I got this great worksheet at nocornersuns.blogspot.com

 

Day 2:  We started with papier mache!  We covered our tables and got our aprons on.  I found this video this year, which is not even close to what we are doing, but it improved my unit in 2 ways.

1. She pre-cuts the strips (we used white, she's using pink so it

doesn't blend on the white mask).  Genius.

2. She shows how to smooth the paper strips.  Lots of smoothing.

 

So, I showed this on silent and we discussed the process.  Our papier mache needs full dipping action, not just a finger dipped in the mix.  So we did that differently, too.

 

 

 

Then we got BUSY.  Here's after the 1st day.  I put a long piece of butcher paper at the back of the class so they would know where to set their art.  These are the SMOOTHEST projects I have ever had.  Glad I found that video!

 

 

 

 

Day 3: Our 2nd and final day of papier mache!  I refuse to live in papier mache for longer than 2 weeks.  To that end, early finishers get assigned to people who are/were absent, slower workers, etc. and we work as a team to complete everybody's mask.  It works very well.

 

Days 4 & 5:  Paint. 

I had these old wall paints that I wanted to use up, so I had our SRO come get them all open for me and I reused old germ-x bottles as pumps.  I handed each kid a paper plate and let them get their own paint!  They loved it, and so did I. 

 

Note:  These worked great for the 1st week but got messed up by the end of the 2nd week.  I did LOVE the kids getting their own paint with the ability to limit it, though, so I'm going to work on finding something more stable/permanent.

 

 

 

 

Day 6:  Add feathers, yarn, and bottle caps