Name

Chinese dragon mask

20cm

30cm

Bright and colourful dragon masks are often worn as part of the Chinese New Year celebrations. These can sometimes be enormous; linked to a long snakelike body that will be supported by many performers. The following example can be made in two or three dimensions and will allow children to really go to town on the decoration. You will need: strong card 20x30cm; pencil; scissors; paintbrushes; red, black and gold paints; decorative materials such as coloured fabric and card, sequins, gold lace, gold buttons and gold paper; masking tape; papier mch, paper clay or Modroc; card strips 3cm wide; stapler. What to do Either create a template for children to use, or get them to copy the mask shape onto card to the measurements shown above. It need not be an exact copy encourage the children to use their own ideas too. For a three-dimensional effect, children can use half a ping pong ball for the eyes, sticking these into position using masking tape. (Eye holes will need to be made just under the balls so that children can look out.) Papier mch or Modroc can then be used to build up other raised areas such as the nose and cheeks. Allow this to dry. Once dry, the masks can be painted in red, black and gold. Further gold decorations can be added afterwards such as earrings, teeth, and so on. Use a pencil to curl the tongue slightly. To nish, staple two strips of card to the mask as shown right to make a cap to t the childs head.

Stapled strips of card so that mask can sit on head

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SEPTEMBER 2005 JUNIOR EDUCATION