Vocabulary Words: Line, Pattern, Shape

Materials: crepe paper streamers, electric hand mixers, white glue, tagboard, scissors

I use this project with my sixth graders, but I believe almost any age group would enjoy creating them. We took the crepe paper party streamers and attached an approximately 10' strip to a single beater of an electric hand mixer. One student runs the mixer, one holds the other end of the streamer, and a third student walks up and down the strip, ensuring that it twists evenly. After two class periods of doing this, we end up with a huge box of paper twists. We then create our masks on an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of tagboard, cutting out the eyes and penciling in our designs. We glue the paper twists down with white school glue, pushing the twists tightly together so no tagboard shows. I have found that the students have an easier time working with the materials if they begin in the center and work outwards. Embellishments enhance these masks even further - I have used leftover paper twists, feathers, and yarn. These are extremely sturdy when they are completed.