8th Grade Sugar Skull masks

Here is just a sample of the fun Sugar Skull masks we made.  The kids loved it!  I will post more examples and my lesson plan soon.

(done with a fine point Sharpie -- drawn in pencil first)

So here is what we started with.  Each student received a plastic mask form.  To prevent the paper mache from sticking to the mask (when we need to pull it off later), we put a sheet of foil on as our first "layer".

The green mixture in the cup is a simple mix of glue, water, and food coloring.  The reason for the color?  Just for fun.  It was near the Michigan/Michigan State game and I was showing my support for State.  Go Green!  ;)

Every other layer was newspaper, then torn brown paper towel.

They ended up with a total of 6 layers.

The brown paper towel was the last layer.

After the last layer was dry, students painted on a layer or two of white gesso.

This made for a nice "blank canvas".

In the photo above -- you can see the student has removed the paper mache mask from the plastic form.  

Now that they have their mask -- it's time to decorate!

Students were told that they had the choice to make a Sugar Skull design or another design idea.  The paint we used was acrylic....it works so much better than tempera.  Markers were also used.
:)
Here are more student examples: