After study in one or more units of masks in history, divide the students into pairs or groups. Provide each group with a picture of a mask that has been mentioned in lectures or in books. Have the students work to identify the mask, including the period of time in which the mask was used, the character associated with the mask and what the mask was used for, if anything specific. Students can use books, computers or the Internet to find the information. The first pair or group that completes the task with the correct information wins.
Divide students up into pairs. For each pair of students, hand out one cardboard cutout mask -- undecorated and on a stick. Also give each pair plenty of paints, brushes, craft decorations and glue. One of the students will decorate, while the other student will be given a card with an easily recognizable character on it, such as a lion or a queen. Only the person with the card may speak by giving directions to the other person how to decorate the mask. The person with the card cannot tell the other person what they are making, however. The team that finishes first and that has made the correct mask based on the verbal instructions, wins.
Make several face masks out of cardboard that you can hold up to your face on a stick. The face masks should represent characters from stories that you and your students have read in class. Play a game with your students by holding a mask up to your face and having the students guess which character you are and what story the character represents. Then, ask the student that guessed the character and story questions about the story, such as, "What did the character want?" or "How was the character's problem resolved?" Reward the students that answer correctly with the face mask or with other prizes.
As part of a unit on endangered animals, have the students create cardboard face masks of the animals discussed in class. At the end of the unit, lay all the face masks on a table and hold them up one by one, calling on students to identify the animal. The first student to correctly identify the animal gets 10 extra minutes of recess or a prize.