Year 1 enjoy making African Tribal Masks

27th November 2015 | Key Stage 1

In Art lessons, Year 1 have been making African tribal masks. We looked at the traditional ceremonial masks of Nigeria and Senegal, which were carved from African hard woods and decorated with found objects such as straw, shells, seeds and bone. The boys started off with a balloon on which they used papier-mâché to create the shape of the face. This was followed by a layer of Art Rok in order to speed up the hardening process and to add texture. They then painted their masks with black paint and PVA to create a hardwood finish and decorated them with dried pulses. Finally, the best bit, they popped their balloons! They look just like the real thing!

Watch a video of Year 1 making African Tribal Masks: