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Pacific Northwest Coast Masks– third/fourth grades

A mask inspired by Pacific Northwest Coast maks with painted white, orange, and teal sections, furry accents, and two black ears on top.
Clay animal mask with wide eyes, cat ears, and a long striped trunk-like nose, inspired by Pacific Northwest Coast Masks.

A colorful tribal mask with red, white, and black patterns, and fur on top, displayed on a flat surface. This piece is inspired by Pacific Northwest Coast Masks and offers an intriguing look for third grade students studying native cultures.


A colorful handmade mask painted in blue and green tones, adorned with feathers, inspired by Pacific Northwest Coast Masks.

The third/fourth grade classes made paper mache masks.  We used inspiration from the Pacific Northwest Coast masks and viewed a video about their culture.  Here are the steps we used.

A partially decorated white mask with cat ears and taped sections placed on a beige surface.
Start with a papermache mask form (we used some from Nasco). Then, add appendages with newspapers, LOTS of masking tape, pieces of cardboard, yogurt containers, etc.

Person in a cluttered room wearing a white mask with ears, holding something to the mask.
So much fun to build up a mask!

Person in an art studio holding a white mask to their face with hands.

Two hands applying paper and tape to a white face mask on top of a newspaper.
After all the parts are very secured with tape (and I mean lots of tape, MORE is better for this project), then add pieces of newspaper strips dipped in paper mache.  We used powdered Elmer’s Art Paste.

Hands applying wet strips of newspaper for papier-mâché next to a bucket.
Paper maching!

A person creating a papier-mâché project at a table, using newspaper and a paste-like substance.
Lots of paper mache.  The kids made sure to cover their mask with one or two layers.

Hands applying newspaper strips to a tape-covered paper mache form on a wooden table with more newspaper underneath.
ewww.. it’s so goopy!  Some of the kids used plastic gloves because they did not like the feel of it.
Handmade reindeer mask with red nose, red ears, and brown eyes with white accents on a gray background, inspired by the Pacific Northwest Coast Masks.
Paint the masks with acrylic paints.  The children used reference sheets with Pacific Northwest Coast designs on them.  After the paint is dry, hot glue on fur, feathers or raffia

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About Marcia Beckett

Marcia is an elementary art teacher and loves painting, drawing, sculpture, art journaling and clay. Her blog, Art is Basic, features many exciting art projects for kids.

One Response to Pacific Northwest Coast Masks– third/fourth grades

  1. hi there – I'm a musician who releases music for free on line – and I'd love to use one of the masks as an album cover. I'll understand if that's not cool with you or the person who made teh mask. Just thought I'd better ask permission (there is no money involved I'm afraid) here is my site http://www.theprisonerofmars.com and my email address theprisonerofmars@gmail.co.uk

    Thank you!

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