Skip to Content

King Tut Mask Craft for Kids

Sharing is caring!

Making a King Tut Burial Mask with kids is a super fun way to finish an Ancient Egypt unit study. Kids will love to paper maché and the finished King Tut Mask craft for kids will be an art project you won't mind keeping on display.  After studying King Tut, officially known as King Tutankhaman, we just had to get our hands dirty with paper maché and make our own version of King Tut's burial mask. My kids had a blast with this kids craft project.

paper mache King Tut Mask craft made by kids, gold paint with blue paint details

I will admit that this craft project for kids is a little more involved and has quite a few steps. There is drying time involved which means that you can't whip this project up in an afternoon. It will take a few days. However, this extra waiting time is worth it because the finished product is amazing!

*Affiliate links are present.

Make a King Tut Mask


Supplies to make a King Tut Burial Mask with kids

Directions:

Draw around your face mask in the middle of your piece of thick cardboard. This will help you know where to place the mask after you cut out the cardboard shape.

Draw the outline of your burial mask around your face mask. We looked at pictures of King Tut's mask to get an idea of the correct shape.

beginning step of making a King Tut Burial Mask with kids, draw shape on cardboard

Using the utility knife, cut out your mask shape. (If you want this to be a true mask that you can wear, you will need to cut out the circle for your face mask as well as the outline of the burial mask. We opted not to cut out this piece and left the cardboard in the middle to keep the mask sturdy, so ours is not a true mask, but more of an art piece.)

Use masking tape to attach the plastic face mask to the cardboard. You will need to place tape along all of the crease where the mask meets the cardboard. If you are making yours like ours, you will need to tape over the eye holes. If you are making this a true mask that you can wear, don't cover the eye holes.

cut cardboard shape and attach mask to prepare for paper mache

Using the scissors, cut two slits in your cardboard tube on opposite sides of the tube, and then cut between these slits on one side, so that a small section comes off the tube. This will be the beard.

close up of toilet paper roll cut detail

Attach your cardboard beard onto the chin of your face mask and stick with masking tape. Roll a small ball of newspaper or paper towels and push it up into the end of your beard. Cover the opening up with masking tape, too.

attached cardboard roll to make chin piece of King Tut mask

Time to get dirty! Tear strips of newspaper and stick them to your mask using a mixture of glue and water. (We probably used 2 parts glue to 1 part water if I had to put a measurement on it.) Make sure that you cover your whole mask, including the toilet paper roll beard. Leave your mask to dry overnight.

children\'s hands placing newspaper paper mache pieces on King Tut mask craft

Head outside and spray your mask with gold spray paint. It's better to spray multiple light coats of paint rather than one big heavy coat of paint. If you spray too much at a time, the paint will run. You will need more than one coat to cover up all of the newspaper print. Leave your painted mask to dry.

finished paper mache mask before spray painting it gold

Using the blue acrylic paint and the paintbrush, paint the stripes to decorate the mask like King Tut's mask. Try to make sure the stripes match up evenly on both sides of the mask. You will want to paint the facial features, too.

painting blue details on the King Tut mask with the Ancient Egypt craft book for inspiration

And you're done!

paper mache King Tut Burial Mask craft painted gold and blue next to an Ancient Egypt craft idea book

We plan on hanging ours in our homeschool room. It will make a great reminder of our Ancient Egypt unit study.

King Tut Facts for Kids

  • King Tut was nicknamed the Boy King because he began his reign at nine years old.
  • Tutankhamun died when he was only 18, and his body was mummified, which is how the ancient Egyptians preserved their dead.
  • His golden coffin was buried in a tomb in the Valley Of The Kings, surrounded by 5,000 priceless treasures.
  • Along with a golden burial mask, King Tut’s sandals were also found in the tomb. These had paintings of his enemies on the soles – so everywhere the king went, he trampled all over his foes!
  • King Tut’s tomb was buried in such a way that the constellation Orion was above the entrance to the tomb. The Egyptians believed that Orion was the soul of Osiris, the God of Afterlife.
  • Tutankhamun’s tomb was discovered by a team of British archaeologists (Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon) in 1922 nearly 3,000 years after his death. The tomb was so well-preserved that the archaeologists were able to get a complete insight of Tutankhamun’s life. It was common for the tomb raiders to steal the treasures buried with the Pharaohs. But they probably couldn’t locate King Tut’s tomb.
  • King Tutankhamun’s mask was made of 22 pounds of gold.

King Tut Items for Kids

Who Was King Tut? book coverWho Was King Tut?Tut\'s Mummy: Lost...and Found book coverTut's Mummy: Lost...and FoundNational Geographic Kids Readers: Ancient Egypt book coverNational Geographic Kids Readers: Ancient EgyptKing Tut for Kids book coverKing Tut for KidsWhat\'s So Great About King Tut? book coverWhat's So Great About King Tut?The Curse of King Tut\'s Mummy book coverThe Curse of King Tut's MummyIs The Tomb of King Tut Really Cursed? book coverIs The Tomb of King Tut Really Cursed?Touch the Art: Tickle Tut\'s Toes book coverTouch the Art: Tickle Tut's ToesKing Tut Coloring Book coverKing Tut Coloring BookCurse of King Tut\'s Tomb recorded book coverCurse of King Tut's TombKing Tut\'s Private Eye book coverKing Tut's Private EyeKing Tut: Tales from the Tomb book coverKing Tut: Tales from the TombHistory for Kids: The Illustrated Life of King Tutankhamun book coverHistory for Kids: The Illustrated Life of King TutankhamunKing Tut: With 44 Stickers (Dover Little Activity Books Paper Dolls) book coverKing Tut: With 44 Stickers (Dover Little Activity Books Paper Dolls)Small King Tut Collectible FigurineSmall King Tut Collectible FigurineEgyptian King Tut Plush DollEgyptian King Tut Plush DollKing Tut Backpack For KidsKing Tut Backpack For KidsKing Tut Glass Blown OrnamentKing Tut Glass Blown OrnamentKing Tut Hat for KidsKing Tut Hat for KidsSmall King Tut Coffin with Mummy Collectible FigurineSmall King Tut Coffin with Mummy Collectible FigurineKing Tut Deluxe CostumeKing Tut Deluxe CostumeSafari Ltd Ancient Egypt TOOBSafari Ltd Ancient Egypt TOOBKids King Tutankhamun T-ShirtKids King Tutankhamun T-Shirt

More Crafts for Kids:

Paper Plate Carnival Masks
Kid-Painted Flower Pots
Viking Ship Craft for Kids

Sharing is caring!

Nicolle

Monday 4th of March 2024

Did you paper mache the front and back or just the front? Thank you! This is so helpful and perfect for our ancient Egypt unit.

Sara McClure

Friday 5th of April 2024

Just the front! We wrapped the edge a little bit with paper mache, but it really isn't noticeable. I'd love to see how yours turns out!

Jill

Monday 22nd of May 2023

Just wanted to say thank you very much for providing this walk through - I was struggling for ideas for my 8 year old's project and this was perfect. I ended up doing most of the paper mache and gold painting, but he enjoyed adding the blue bits and I'm so pleased with the end result. Thank you!

Sara McClure

Monday 12th of June 2023

Wonderful, Jill!

10 Ways to Include Art in Your Homeschool Day | Happy Brown House

Saturday 23rd of March 2019

[…] to crafty art projects. For example, while we were studying Ancient Egypt and King Tut, we made a King Tut Burial Mask. While we were studying Morocco in geography before our trip to Epcot, we made mosaics. Use your […]

Phyllis at All Things Beautiful

Friday 25th of May 2018

We loved doing this, too. Good tutorial!