Lesson Plan: African Art Masks

Objectives: /
  • Students will learn about African art through a power point presentation
  • Students will discuss the characteristics of the African art they saw in the power point presentation
  • Students will demonstrate their knowledge of the characteristics of African Art in order to make a mask.
  • Students will write a short description of their mask and why it is considered African. Why they have included the different materials and characteristics they used.

Materials: /
  • Balloons
  • Paper Mache
  • Paint
  • Natural materials such as raffia, sticks, and grasses
  • Glue
  • Scissors

Motivation: /
  • Students will watch a power point presentation about African Art
  • Students will discuss the characteristics of African Art

Procedures: /
  1. First blow up a balloon. This will be the base for your paper Mache mask.
  2. After you have your balloon ready, then start cutting strips of brown paper. Dip the brown paper in the glue mixture. The take your two fingers and squeeze the excess glue off your brown strip.
  3. Then lay the brown strip onto the balloon. You will repeat this step many times. Each time you lay a strip, laid that strip across the previous strip. This makes the paper Mache stronger. Only cover half the balloon so that it is a mask and not a full sphere. This step needs to be repeated so that you have approximately 4-5 layers of Mache.
  4. The balloon will eventually deflate and then can be thrown away. When the paper Mache is finished you will have a face mask that you can decorate.
  5. You may use tempera paint to add texture and pattern to your mask. Furthermore, there are also different types of natural materials to use on your mask.
Keep these questions in mind when decorating your mask:
  • What characteristics have you included in the decoration of your mask?
  • How would a person know that this mask is considered African?
  • Why did you choose the materials you did?
6. After the students have completed their masks they will type a short description of the mask and why they chose to include the characteristics and materials they did.
Evaluation: /
  • Students will be evaluated on the following:
  1. The creativity of the mask and the use of African Art characteristics. Mask is worth 100 points.
  2. The short description, spelling and grammar. 25 points