home home meet the teacher classroom shop freebie library

Sharing Personal Identity Through Plaster Masks


Giving students opportunities to share their interests, explore their identities and self-assess their personal awareness are essential parts of the new British Columbia curriculum.  We found a fun and engaging way for students to tackle these competencies this year.

Early in the year, our students worked to cover each others' faces in plaster strips.  (You can purchase this at any art store, like Michaels.)  It usually comes in large strips, so you'll need to cut them down ahead of time.  Students just wet them with water and smooth on.  Don't forget to coat the face in LOTS of Vaseline first so the mask comes off easily.  We dimmed the lights and played some soothing music.  The students were very kind and compassionate to one another.  We heard things like:

"You're doing great! We are nearly finished."
"Do you want me to cover your nose first, or your mouth first?"
"Just take deep breaths, you're doing awesome."

It was a great strengthening activity for our growing community.