For the past two weeks, the 3s, 4s, and 5s classes have been
working on making plaster masks. Each child began with a child-
sized plastic face form (older kids can actually use their own
faces and have someone else apply the plaster, but preschool-
aged kids are still too young for this method). They first
dipped strips of plaster bandages into water, then smoothed them
out onto their face form. This took a lot of concentration and
commitment to cover the entire face, but the kids were super
into it! I've used paper mache with this age group and it seems
like the plaster bandages were easier (or more appealing) to
work with. After covering the face forms, the masks were left to
dry until the next class. The following week, the kids worked on
decorating their masks. The teachers, Kory and Jhaya, first
helped to cut the eyes or mouths out for anyone who was
interested. To decorate their masks, some children began with
markers or glue, while others began with paint. During the first
week of mask-making, some of t