I have been so excited about this clay project. I had never seen it done so I wasn't sure how it would turn out. These masks are called "Green Men Masks". There are quite a few resources on what the Green Man is and what he can look like. A Green Man has a face built of various parts of naturepart there are leaves and branches included in the face; sometimes they can be found imbedded into a tree.
We started the masks by creating a pinchpot, then folding out the sides so that there is a flat piece all around the pot to place leaves and branches. I then showed kids how to get the pinch pot to transform into a face by creating facial features like eye sockets, cheek bones, nose, eyes and mouth. Then students get to be creative and add on whatever parts of nature they wish to add to their Green Man! I also taught them to score and slip, and gave them some cutouts of leaves to use! I cannot wait to see these painted! I will update you on the painted version in my next post! Happy Easter! -J