2nd Grade Egypt Masks in Art

The second graders have fully embraced their study of Ancient Egypt and have been exploring Egyptian art motifs and ancient figures in art class. The second grade artists started their process by examining images of funerary masks from Ancient Egypt. The students designed their own masks, imagining themselves in Ancient Egypt as a regular person, a pharaoh, a queen, an anubis or even a cat! They created a plan for their designs and built additional features to add to their masks, like beards, ears or hair.

Once the planning was complete, they joined the resource teachers during Community Time to create their masks out of plaster. The students worked collaboratively and took turns being the model for the creation of a mask or one of the creators. As a group, we discussed how it would feel to be the model, how we can check in with each other and how important trust was in our group. When the students were ready, they got to lie down on the table, close their eyes and let their peers get to work laying down plaster strips on their face.

After the plaster hardened, the students were amazed to see their likeness in sculpture form! They then had the chance to add on their additional sculptural elements and fill in their noses and their mask forms were complete. The second graders are looking forward to painting and decorating their masks.