1. West African Masks

2. Fold in half,
“hot dog” style

3. Draw a half moon
shape, curved edge
away from the fold

4. Cut along the curve,
Save your scraps

5. Starting on the fold,
cut a one inch
triangle off the ends

6. Your cuts should
look like this…

7. Open your
paper like this

8. Place a LITTLE bit
of glue along the edge

9. Fold the edge over
and hold tightly
until papers are
stuck together

10. Repeat on the other
side until your mask
looks like this

11. Fold a piece of paper
over, and sketch
an eye. Hold it up
before cutting it!

12. Cut the eye out.
Since the paper
was folded,
it will make two!

13. Move around the
eyes until you find
Where you want
to place them.
Leave space for
hair and a nose!

14. Glue them down!

15. Make the pupils for your eyes.

16. Design and make a nose.

17. Fold a paper in half,
sketch an eyebrow,
and cut it out

18. Arch the eyebrow,
glue the ends,
and the top.

19. Eyebrows should look
something like this.
Keep in mind, angled
eyebrows can make
your mask look mean,
sad, or happy!

20. Add various geometric
shapes to the face

21. Design and cut hair (and ears).

22. Glue the hair down.
You may want to fold it
or curl it.

23. Take a selfie when it is done!

24. Take a selfie when it is done!

25. Place a dime sized amount of glue on both sides of the
mounting paper

26. Apply pressure until
the glue holds the mask.

27. Glue West African proverb on the front, and the write up on the back.
(The next two slides will explain the
proverb and write up requirements.)

28. West African Proverbs-
“AS 6-YEAR-OLDS in Zimbabwe, we were taught proverbs before we were taught how to navigate the nuts and bolts of Shona (the most common language in the country). This approach left some students capable of dropping rich wisdom freely but not being able to ask you how your day was.
Many African proverbs are strongly tied to the earth and animals, conveying lessons of life and learning often through daily, seemingly menial, procedures. An example of a Zimbabwean proverb is “there is honey but no bees” — describing a situation when you find something free for the taking and without consequence.” (
Your job is to look up and find an African, preferably, West African, proverb. Once you find one that you like, write it down creatively. The proverb will be glued on the front of your display pare, next to the mask. Please identify the country or civilization that the proverb originated from (if possible).

29. Write up- Please answer the following questions in a minimum 100
word response.
What is represented on your mask (animal, warrior,
etc…), and why did you choose to make a mask of it?
2. Why were the arts, music, clothing, sculpture, masks, etc…, important to the people of West Africa?