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11 Easy Hands-On Ancient Egypt Projects for Middle School

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Learning about Ancient Egypt should be both fun and interactive during the middle school ages. It’s not time to give up the fun at any age of learning. Today, I have gathered 11 easy hands-on Ancient Egypt projects for middle school.

Ancient Egypt Projects for Middle School

1. Make Mud Bricks.

Look at this fun Hands-on Ancient Egypt: Israelite Mud Bricks for Kids. With minimal material, most of which you have around the house, your middle school child will love making these mud bricks.

2. Build a LEGO Math Calculator.

Next, look at this math slant project while studying about Ancient Egypt. Ancient Egyptian Mathematics: Build a LEGO Math Calculator is a fun middle school project.

Studying about jewelry from Ancient Egypt doesn’t have to be hard. Look at this Fun Hands-On History: Ancient Egyptian Collar Craft.

11 Easy Hands-On Ancient Egypt Projects for Middle School

3. Create an Ancient Egyptian Collar

One of the most famous forms of jewelry worn by the ancient Egyptians was the Usekh collar. Rich Egyptians often wore these broad necklaces on a daily basis and this collar craft is a fun way to understand about Egyptian necklaces.

Then to add a bit of art and drawing, your middle school child will love Ancient Egypt Civilization (Hands-on History): King Narmer Crown.

4. Mold a painting of the Ancient Egypt Double Crown

After all studying about the double crown and the significance to Ancient Egypt can be hard to understand. This easy hands-on project helps learning facts stick.

Projects for Middle School About Ancient Egypt

5. Play the Snake Game

In addition, I created this fun and Free Ancient Egypt Mehen Printable Board Game (Hands-on History) based on the popular snake game played by the Egyptians.

However, we really loved doing the Project Passport: Ancient Egypt from Home School in the Woods .

Not only did we enjoy many hands-on learning activities, but love learning about Upper and Lower Egypt, the maps and the printable activities. My post Ancient Egypt Homeschool Unit Study – Hands-on and FUN! has numerous activities in Project Passport.

6. Travel Egypt Without Leaving Your Home

11 Easy Hands-On Ancient Egypt Projects for Middle School

Also, add in a few more hands-on fun ideas like this Birdcage Ancient Egypt Go Fish game.

11 Easy Hands-On Ancient Egypt Projects for Middle School

7. Prepare cardboard Egyptian Pillars

And another Ancient Egypt project for middle school is to have your child prepare these beautiful smokin’ hot Egyptian cardboard pillars.

Hands-on Ancient Egypt Middle School Activities

At the end of our unit study co-op our group made these cardboard pillars; your crafty middle school kid will love doing them for a prop or drama your group has.

8. Tie in Ancient Egypt with Astronomy Notebooking Page

Furthermore, some middle school children will love a science tie in with Ancient Egypt like learning about ancient astronomy. Look at my post Exploring Space and Astronomy Free Unit Study for Multiple Ages.

Exploring Space and Astronomy Free Unit Study for Multiple Ages

These notebooking pages are subscriber freebies.

That means when you sign up to follow me, you get access to my Exclusive Subscriber’s Only Library which has these notebooking pages in the library.

This is how you get access to these pages quickly.
► 1) Sign up on my list.
► 2) Go to your inbox and confirm your email from the automatic reply I sent you.
►3) Look for the automatic reply giving you the password to the private subscriber’s area. You should have it soon.

Exploring Space and Astronomy Free Unit Study for Multiple Ages

IF you are already a follower/subscriber, PLEASE do NOT email me asking how to find it. You may not want to wait on me replying since I get bombarded with emails.

Find the MOST RECENT email from me and the password and link to the Subscribers Area are ALWAYS at the bottom of every email. Look for the most current email since I change the password frequently.

9. Study Ancient Egypt Alongside Other Ancient Empires.

This next Ancient Egypt project for middle school is to make an in depth study of Ancient Empires. We used Great Empires Activity Study by Home School in the Wood.

Some children need to see the key players or empires of history at one time and need a longer project to retain focus.

Moving too fast studying ancient history and a child may not understand key time periods. It’s important for key history hooks to be made so that all other learning can be tied to history makers.

Great Empires Activity Study by Home School in the Woods covers fourteen empires:

  • Ancient China
  • Ancient Egypt
  • Ancient Greece
  • Ancient Rome
  • Arab-Muslims,
  • English Empire
  • French Empire
  • Mongols
  • Russian Empire
  • Spanish Empire
  • United States and
  • Viking.
  • German Empire
  • Japanese Empire
11 Easy Hands-On Ancient Egypt Projects for Middle School

Another easy activity Hands-On History: The Rosetta Stone and Breaking The Code is really a fun introduction to learning about ancient history.

10. Break the Code of the Rosetta Stone.

If you find that your child doesn’t really know anything about why we know some about ancient history, begin with learning about the Rosetta Stone. Your code breakers will love to learn about breaking the code.

Rosetta Stone Making a Code

As well including your young kids can be tough. So, if you want to include your younger kids or if your middle school child loves to still color, you’ll love this set of Ancient color pages to go along with your studies.

20 Ancient Civilization History Coloring Pages at Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus. You'll love adding these to your unit studies or notebooking.

We have used various museum quality history coloring books through the years that have made a big difference in how my boys understood history in the early years. I think clip art should be as real as possible and based on real events in history.

Learning Ancient History Through Coloring

Instead of me adding titles on pages or naming the coloring pages, this allows you to use the clip art/coloring pages any way you want to. Whether it is a cover page, notebooking page, journal page or just to enrich a topic, you have the flexibility.

Here is what the 20 page download contains. I put a few key words to explain each picture on the page. This way you can use the coloring pages as title pages too on your lapbooks.

Page 3: Ancient Egypt Court,
Page 4: Ancient Egypt Spinning,
Page 5: Ancient Egypt Life of the Royals,
Page 6: Ancient Egypt Battles,
Page 7: Ancient Egypt The Nile,
Page 8: Life Along the River – The Nile,
Page 9: Metal Workers & Crafts of Ancient Egypt,
Page 10: Egyptian Hieroglyphics,
Page 11: Egyptian Queen Cleopatra,

Page 12: Aztecs Floating Gardens
Page 13: Aztecs,
Page 14: Aztec Life,
Page 15: Mayans,
Page 16: Ancient Greece Wedding,
Page 17: Ancient Greek Galley,
Page 18: Ancient Greece Crafts,
Page 19: Ancient Greece Bank,
Page 20: Athens,
Page 21: Spartan Warrior and
Page 22: The Vikings.

Grab your fun copy below!

Finally, you know my love for hands-on tools like lapbooks. No, they’re not just for younger children.

Middle school children really benefit from them as well. And the best part is that the lapbook can be as crafty or not as your child wants it to be.

11. Craft a Pharaohs and Queens Ancient Egypt lapbook.

And I really make it easy here for you because I have this free Famous Pharaohs and Queens of Egypt lapbook.

11 Easy Hands-On Ancient Egypt Projects for Middle School

What do you think? Are you ready to tackle these 11 Easy Hands-On Ancient Egypt Projects for Middle School?

11 Easy Hands-On Ancient Egypt Projects for Middle School

And be sure you visit these middle school activities:

7 Super Fun History Games to Bring the Past to Life

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today, I have 7 super fun history games. History – The only class where I actually fell asleep (multiple times!) when I was in school!  Do your kiddos groan and moan about history? 

What is it about history that can make it so boring?  Because, really, history is so full of interesting facts and stories that now I can’t believe how boring I used to think it was!

Let’s change that!  Let’s make history fun and exciting!  Let’s make it (dare I say it?!) your child’s favorite subject! 

It’s a favorite subject around our house and I firmly believe that is because we use so many games in our history lessons!

Fun History Games

7 Super Fun History Games to Bring the Past to Life


I’m going to be sharing 7 super fun history games that you can use in your homeschool to bring the past to life!  Let’s get started!

1) Made for Trade

Time Period: Colonial America

Ages: 7+

Players: 2 to 4
Game Length: 5 to 30 minutes (depending on which version you play)

We have been studying US history this year and Made for Trade has been so fun! 

This is a board game, shop cards, character pawns, dice, and shillings. 

This history game comes with 3 versions to play! The first game is a version of Spoons called Shillings where players try to get five cards from the same shop (blacksmith, potter, silversmith, etc.). 

I was really happy to find instructions for this game because my 5 year old could play this with no help and the kids are becoming familiar with items that were sold in different shops during Colonial America.

The 2nd and 3rd versions of the game are very similar. 

In the first version players work their way around the village buying or trading items from the village shops trying to acquire any 4 objects from the shops. 

Players also have to pay taxes and get paid as they move around the spaces. 

The 3rd version, players are also trying to acquire cards, but this time they are specific items on an inventory card for their character. 

This version also adds in event cards such as a smallpox outbreak that has kids learning even more about American History. 

Made for Trade is a great game to introduce your children to US History!

History Games for Elementary Students

2) Guess in 10: States of America and Countries of the World

Time Period: N/A

Ages: All Ages

Players: 2 to 6

Game Length: 5 minutes to as long as you want!

This game isn’t really history, but more geography.

I included it in my list because it is perfect for families with a wide age range, and besides, we all need to know states and countries! 

Ask up to 10 questions to guess the state of America or country on the game card! There are 50 game cards and 6 clue cards in each game. 

This would be fun for traveling or at the dinner table for some fun dinner time trivia! 

There are other sets, too, like landmarks, animals, underwater, foods around the world, dinosaurs, and more!

3) Brain Box World History

Time Period: All of History

Ages: All Ages

Players: 1 or more players

Game Length: 5 minutes or as long as you want! 

Brain Box World History is a memory game and a history game in one!

Players look at the front of a card for 10 seconds. 

Then, they flip over the card and roll the die. Another player reads the question corresponding to the number on the die. 

If you get it correct, you get to keep the card; if you get the answer wrong, the card goes back in the box. The player with the most cards after 10 minutes (or some agreed upon time) wins! 

There is also a one player game version where a single player can try to get as many cards as he or she can in 10 minutes. 

This is a great way to introduce different events in history!

4) Timeline: Historical Events.

Time Period: All of history

Ages: 8 and up

Players: 2 to 6

Game Length: About 15 minutes

What is it about?

There are so many of the Timeline games and they can all be mixed together for some real fun!

The basic idea of the game is simple – start with a random card and then arrange other historical events either before or after it depending on when they happened in history.

These games are quick, fun, and a great way to learn when events happened.

This is also a great game for introducing lots of events and seeing which ones your children would like to dive deeper into. Other decks include Inventions, more Historical Events, and British history.

The cards come in a tin, like the Spot It, which makes it easy to store or take with you on the go!

Note: If you are looking for a game like this for older children, be sure to check out Chronology. Ages 14+

5)  Professor Noggin: History of the United States

Time Period: US History (various times)

Ages: 7+

Players: 2 to 8

Game Length: About 15 to 30 minutes

Professor Noggin is a trivia type game where players try to collect cards by answering questions correctly. 

There are easy and hard questions on each card. 

When we play, my girls answer the easy questions and I answer the hard questions.  It makes for a pretty even playing field, so fun for everyone! 

On your turn you roll the die and another player reads the corresponding question to you. 

If you get it right you get to keep the card; if you get the history question wrong the card goes back in the pile. 

The questions will be either trivia, true/false, or multiple choice format. 

The first player to collect 10 cards win! There are several versions of Professor Noggin, so you can get whatever topic you are needing: US History, Art History, Medieval Times, Science, Geography, and more!

History Games for Middle and High School Students

6)  The Grizzled

Time Period: World War I

Ages: 14+

Players: 2 to 5

Game Length: About 30 minutes

There are so many games and movies about WWII, but in this game players are immersed in the trenches of WWI.

This is a fully cooperative game (think Pandemic) where players work together to stay alive until Armistice. Each round will face the hardships of war such as blizzards, gas attacks, and trauma.

Soldiers must use strategy and luck to stay alive together!

World War I can be glossed over in a lot of history studies, with so much emphasis put on WWII.

With The Grizzled, players can learn what it was like to try to survive during the miserable trench warfare of The Great War.

Reviewers state that it is simple and straightforward to learn, but the replay value is quite good!

One reviewer stated that he and his wife are at about 50% win rate, so that makes for exciting play! This would be a great game to play with older middle school or high school students.

7)  Freedom

Time Period: Slavery and Civil War

Ages: 13 and up 

Players: 1 to 4 players

Game Length: 60 to 90 minutes

Freedom is a cooperative game where players try to raise funds, free slaves, and end slavery in America.

As they play, players learn about historical figures, political agendas, and important events that occurred between 1800 and 1865.

This game won the 2013 Best Game Quest Awards for Best Coop Game and was nominated for 2014 Origins Award Best Historical Game! 

Freedom would be a great interactive way to cover the time period leading up to the Civil War. Also, look at the huge Civil War lapbook unit study here.

History Games Bring the Past to Life


These games are just the tip of the iceberg, let me tell you!  If you are struggling to get your kiddos to get interested in history, try one (or more!) of these games and see them get hooked! 

7 Super Fun History Games to Bring the Past to Life

I hope you’ve found some useful resources to add to history in your homeschool this year!

Happy learning!

Look at these other fun history learning resources here:

22 Famous Texans Notebooking Pages (editable) For a Fun History Study

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

These 22 famous Texans notebooking pages can be added to a unit study about Texas. You could use the Texans notebooking pages for a famous people study too.

I’ve created 11 Texans notebooking pages which have 2 Texans on each page so your child can notebook about 22 famous Texans.

In addition, I’ve created two sets of notebooking pages. The first set is editable and the second set has lines for handwriting. You decide best how to use them with your kids.

Some kids need more practice handwriting, other kids need to type. Again, it’s the same set with two different options. You get both options in the one download.

22 Famous Texans Notebooking Pages

22 Famous Texans Notebooking Pages For a Fun History Study (Editable)

Look at these 22 famous Texans on each page and in addition where possible, I have a link or two to help you kick off your unit study with a heap of Texan-ness.

One. Davy Crockett

Davy Crockett, Tall Tales, and History

157 page .pdf about Davy Crockett

Two. James Bowie

Bowie, James (1796–1836)

Bowie, JAMES, military officer, Alamo Defender, Hero 

Three. Branch Tanner Archer

Archer, Branch Tanner (1790–1856)

Branch Tanner Archer

Four. David G. Burnet

Sons of DeWitt Colony, Texas

Five. Edward Burleson

Burleson, Edward  (1793  – 1851 Dec 26 )

Six. Elisabet Ney

Elisabet Ney Museum

Ney, Elisabet (1833–1907)

Seven. Francisco Vazquez de Coronado

Francisco Vázquez de Coronado

Vázquez de Coronado, Francisco (1510–1554)

Eight. Gail Borden, Jr.

Borden, Gail, Jr. (1801–1874)

About Gail Borden

Famous Texans

Here in Texas, our homeschool state law states the curriculum must include the five basic subjects of reading, spelling, grammar, mathematics and good citizenship.

Good citizenship is similar to civics so you can include these notebooking pages toward your goal of covering Texas history.

Nine. Jane Long

Jane Herbert Wilkinson Long was called the “Mother of Texas.” 

Jane Long (1798-1880)

Ten. John C. Hayes

Hays, John Coffee (1817–1883)

John Coffee Hays

Eleven. John Henry Brown

Brown, John Henry (1820–1895)

John Henry Brown family papers, 1691-1951

Twelve. Lorenzo de Zavala

Zavala, Lorenzo de (1788–1836)

Lorenzo de Zavala (1789-1836)

Thirteen. Mirabeau Lamar

Lamar, Mirabeau Buonaparte (1798–1859)

Giants of Texas History

Fourteen: Robert Cavalier, Sieur de Lasalle

The Explorers

La Salle, René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de (1643–1687)

Texas History Unit Study

Fifteen: Sam Houston

6 page pdf Teacher Guide

Study in Leadership

Sixteen: Stephen F. Austin

Colonization of Texas:

Stephen F. Austin 1793 – 1836

Seventeen: Thomas Green

Green, Thomas (1814–1864)

Green, Thomas  (1814 Jun 8 – 1864 Apr 12 )

Eighteen: William P. Hardeman

Hardeman, William Polk (1816–1898)

William P. Hardeman “Old Gotch” (1816-1898)

Nineteen: Sterling C. Robertson

Robertson, Sterling Clack (1785–1842)

Twenty: Susanna Dickinson

Dickinson, Susanna Wilkerson (ca. 1814–1883)

Alamo widow and survivor

Twenty-one: Anson Jones

Jones, Anson (1798–1858)

Jones, Anson  (1798 Jan 20  –  1858)

Twenty-two: James S. Hogg

Governors of Texas

James S. Hogg (1851-1906)

Grab the Notebooking Pages below.

22 Famous Texans Notebooking Pages For a Fun History Study (Editable)

You’ll love these other resources for studying about Texas:

Hugs and love ya,

History of the Texas Cowboy, Cattle Drives, and Chisholm Trail

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Studying the history of the Texas cowboy, cattle drives, and Chisholm Trail is a fun and fascinating one. Cowboys, cattle drives and the Chisholm Trail all embody the spirit of a Texan.

History of the Texas Cowboy, Cattle Drives, and Chisholm Trail Free Unit Study

Being born and raised in Texas, I grew up going to rodeos, knowing about cattle drives, and watching wide open spaces of grazing cattle as the norm.

As a native Texan too, my husband grew up with ranching and rodeoing in his life and family. He comes from a family of cowboys. I couldn’t wait to do a unit study focused on the history of the Texas cowboy, cattle drives, and the Chisholm Trail.

History of the Texas Cowboy, Cattle Drives, and Chisholm Trail

With fond memories, I recall the first time I heard the poem Cattle by Berta Hart Nance (1883-1958).

Other states were carved or born,
Texas grew from hide and horn.

Other states are long and wide,
Texas is a shaggy hide.

Dripping blood and crumpled hair;
Some fat giant flung it there,

Laid the head where valleys drain,
Stretched its rump along the plain.

Other soil is full of stones,
Texans plow up cattle-bones.

Herds are buried on the trail,
Underneath the powdered shale;

Herds that stiffened like the snow,
Where the icy northers go.

Other states have built their halls,
Humming tunes along the walls,

Texans watched the mortar stirred
While they kept the lowing herd.

Stamped on Texan wall and roof
Gleams the sharp and crescent hoof.

High above the hum and stir
Jingle bridle rein and spur.

Other states were carved or born,
Texas grew from hide and horn.

A lot of Texans view their state differently from how other states grew. After the American Civil War, it was cattle which helped to make Texas grow. Also, ranching was a big part of Texas growth.

This study is about the grit, hardiness, and stubbornness early Texans embodied and how they passed it down to our generation.

So in this history of the Texas cowboy, cattle drives, and Chisholm Trail, I’ve rounded up some helpful resources to teach your kids about Texas.

Texas Cowboy, Cattle Drives, and Chisholm Trail

I aimed at resources for elementary ages to about middle school, but as with all my resources you decide which ages to use them for.

The American Civil War {1861-1865} had almost destroyed the United States, but by 1867 the United States found peace again.

Long-horned cattle, which were introduced in part by the Spanish roamed freely upon the plains.

Ranchers noticed that the longhorn turned out to be particularly well adapted to the harsh and arid conditions in the West. 

So thousands of head of cattle were rounded up from pastures in southern and central Texas and herded hundreds of miles north to Kansas.

Cattle drives were a celebrated event of this time period.

Between fascination with the American legend of a cowboy and a transitional time period in American history this brief, but captivating moment in history attracts learners of any age.

Too, with the invention of refrigerated railroad cars in the 1870’s it also made it possible to ship fresh beef anywhere in the country.

I used the Texas Chisholm Trail by the Texas Historical Commission to use as a guide for this lapbook. It’s a free wonderful educator’s guide, but of course you can use any resource you have.

First, there were at least four cattle drives during the 19th century. They were the The Chisholm Trail, The Goodnight-Loving Trail, The Western Trail and The Shawnee Trail.

The Chisholm Trail has at least 7 names: Abilene Trail, the Cattle Trail, the Eastern Trail, the Great Texas Cattle Trail, the Kansas Trail, McCoy’s Trail and the Texas Chisholm Trail.

Lesson Plans History of the Texas Cowboy, Cattle Drives, and Chisholm Trail

Texas Size Vocabulary Words

  • Cattle Kingdom – An industry based on cattle ranching that arose on the open range from Texas to Canada during the 1800s.
  • Texas Rangers – Law enforcement to keep the law in frontier Texas.
  • Tejanos – A person of Mexican heritage, but considers Texas home.
  • King Ranch – Ranch in South Texas that is one of the most important cattle operations in the state.
  • brands – identification marks on livestock made with burning irons
  • barbed wire – a wire used in fencing that is made with points, or barbs, placed at intervals to prevent livestock from crossing the fence
  • vaqueros – from vaca (cow) cowboy
  • wrangler – one who herds or cares for livestock on the range
  • XIT Ranch – Ranch established by the Capitol Freehold Land and Investment Company which was funded by investors from Chicago and Great Britain.
  • Longhorn – a hybrid breed of cattle that descended from Spanish and English stock; the main breed used in Texas ranching

Field Trip Ideas for History of Texas Cowboy, Cattle Drives and Chisholm Trail

  • We love visiting the Barrington Plantation which is the last home of Anson Jones, the last President of the Republic of Texas. They have a fun program for homeschoolers which includes hand-on activity.
  • The Star of the Republic Museum is on the same property as the Barrington Farm.
  • Varner Hogg Plantation. Yes, it’s true Gov. James Hogg named his daughter Ima Hogg.

Hands-on Ideas For a Texas Unit Study

Next, you’ll love a few ideas for some hands-on fun to study about Texas.

Field Trip to Washington on the Brazos, Star of the Republic Museum, Barrington Farms and Buckhorn Museum/Texas Ranger Museum
(don’t miss any of these places)

  • History of the Texas Cowboy, Cattle Drives, and Chisholm Trail
    Star of the Republic Museum
  • History of the Texas Cowboy, Cattle Drives, and Chisholm Trail 1
    Star of the Republic Museum
  • History of the Texas Cowboy, Cattle Drives, and Chisholm Trail
    Star of the Republic Museum
  • History of the Texas Cowboy, Cattle Drives, and Chisholm Trail
    Star of the Republic Museum
  • History of the Texas Cowboy, Cattle Drives, and Chisholm Trail
    Buckhorn Museum
  • History of the Texas Cowboy, Cattle Drives, and Chisholm Trail
    Barrington Farms Anson Jones Home Republic of Texas
  • History of the Texas Cowboy, Cattle Drives, and Chisholm Trail
    Learn about brands
  • History of the Texas Cowboy, Cattle Drives, and Chisholm Trail
    Barrington Farm
  • History of the Texas Cowboy, Cattle Drives, and Chisholm Trail
    Texas Rangers
  • History of the Texas Cowboy, Cattle Drives, and Chisholm Trail
    Chuck Wagon at Buckhorn Museum
  • History of the Texas Cowboy, Cattle Drives, and Chisholm Trail
    Chuck Wagon at Buckhorn Museum San Antonio, Tx

PURCHASE THE LAPBOOK BELOW:

History of the Texas Cowboy, Cattle Drives, and Chisholm Trail
History of the Texas Cowboy, Cattle Drives, and Chisholm Trail Free Unit Study

Look at these other fun ideas:

Hugs and love ya,

How to Make a Kids’ Fun Ceremonial African Tribal Mask

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Ceremonial African Tribal Mask

This week we created our own ceremonial African tribal mask after doing some research about their uses and how they are made.

How to Make a Kids' Fun Ceremonial African Tribal Mask

We have been studying all about Africa, it’s customs, weather, regions, zoology, peoples, and geography.

How to Make a Kids' Fun Ceremonial African Tribal Mask

This project we are sharing with you today is perfect for mid elementary up through middle school.

Tribal masks play very important roles in many traditional African ceremonies and rituals even in these modern times.

Some symbolize totem animals, others are representative of tribal mythology, they are believed to help communicate and convey messages to spirits.

Some masks are made and used in times of peace and also in times of war, and to ensure good harvests. 

They are worn for weddings, funerals, and initiation rites of passage.

Mask making is an art that is passed from father to son in African culture.

Too, if you are studying Africa with any depth, this is a project that you definitely want to focus on.

How to Make an African Paper Mask

You learn history, but also the culture of certain regions; your child gets a glimpse into the artwork which these interesting peoples create and consider important to their culture.

First, gather these easy supplies. Here is what you will need to create your own mask.

  • Scrapbook/Construction paper
  • Glue 
  • Scissors
  • Hole punch
  • Hole punch
  • Paint, brushes
  • Raffia/twine
  • paint/paintbrush
How to Make a Kids' Fun Ceremonial African Tribal Mask

Directions:

Crease a full sheet of  sturdy paper right down the center, this will be the main piece of your mask.

How to Make a Kids' Fun Ceremonial African Tribal Mask

On one side pencil in a large mask shape. If you have already done some research you should have an idea of what type of mask you would like.

Masks are usually shaped like a human face or animal muzzle, but very abstract.

Kids’ African Mask

We are going with a commonly seen elongated face shape that is symmetrical and it gives me a chance to reintroduce and review what symmetrical means with the kids.

Cut out both sides at the same time following the half shape you drew.

When decorating tribal masks many elements are used like shells, horns, feathers, broken egg shells, seeds, straw, and animal hair.

Cut out your elements like the nose, ears, and eyes from neutral colored paper, which are the colors most commonly chosen in Africa. 

While size and shapes are exaggerated, they are still pretty simple.

To make your features symmetrical, fold your paper in half like you did the poster board. Only draw half the shape on one side, but cut out of both side on the fold. 

How to Make a Kids' Fun Ceremonial African Tribal Mask

Start with the nose, eyes, and ears and build up with decoration from there.

Again if you are cutting one piece like a nose, fold it in half, draw the shape, and cut it out.

How to Make Tribal Masks with Paper

If you are cutting two pieces like eyes just cut through two pieces of paper at the same time so that they are the exact same size and shape.

Next, glue all your elements into place, remember to place your pencil line side face down so you don’t see it.

How to Make a Kids’ Fun Ceremonial African Tribal Mask

To create the hair and beard details, we punched holes along the edges where we wanted them and knotted twine through the holes.

If you knot it like a regular knot the ties will go out sideways.

How to Make a Kids’ Fun Ceremonial African Tribal Mask

If you want it to stick straight up and down, fold your length of string in half and push the loop through the hole you made.

African Mask Ideas for Kids

Too, if you’re looking to add Art History to your curriculum, we love Art History Kids.

Goal of Art History Kids

  • To introduce kids to art.
  • Let them come to their own conclusions.
  • And, encourage their own individual creativity.
How to Make a Kids' Fun Ceremonial African Tribal Mask

Then, slide the other two ends through the loop and pull firmly but gently.

Add some final details with paint, like the dots we did here.

We used the back end of the brush to create round uniform dots to give our mask some additional texture and interest.

How to Make a Kids' Fun Ceremonial African Tribal Mask

If your child enjoys more sensory input you can also use fingertips to add paint to the mask.

Allow your creation to dry, you can either leave it as it is or glue the mask to a sturdier piece of cardboard or poster board to display and keep it longer.

Learning the Culture of Africa Through Picture Books

If you want to make this a fun unit study topic about world cultures, you’ll love the study guide notes and coloring pictures by Beautiful Feet Literature.

Although these guides state they’re for your younger kids, I think picture books are wonderful for all ages. Who doesn’t love pictures?

However, if your middle school kids want some other literature choices, look at this Early American Enrichment which honors the legacy of some African Americans and American Indians at the time when America was young.

Additionally, look at these picture book options below.

Part One covers Asia, Africa, Australia, and Antarctica.

This Around the World With Picture Books Part Two covers Europe and South America.

Lastly, if you want to expand on your Africa study no matter if you are using a box curriculum or if you are doing a simple interest led study here are some ideas that you and your child can try…

African Geography and Culture Homeschool Unit Study Ideas

  • List the different countries with Africa in alphabetical order. This is great practice for learning alphabetical order but also geography, handwriting, vocabulary, and spelling. I am a big fan of activities that cover more than one skill.
  • Dig deeper by researching what various masks and their elements represent and what regions they are from.
  • Create several different masks representing different areas or traditions.
  • Families with one or more children can create an art show with African art to share with friends and family.
  • Research other cultures and countries that wear masks, what are they worn for?
  • Visit a local museum with an Africa exhibit to see relics or replicas first hand.

Watch this documentary on PBS about an African Mask Collection. 

How to Make a Kids' Fun Ceremonial African Tribal Mask

You’ll love these other hands-on activities:

Are you studying about Africa? What activities have you been doing?

Hugs and love ya,