Papier-mache is a highly versatile medium that's fairly easy for beginners to the craft. The materials are easy to come by; supply your class with newspaper, white glue or flour, water, a paintbrush, and paints in varied colors. To create Tut-shaped papier-mache masks, first have students use a balloon to create a basic face shape. Once the papier-mache dries, students use stiff board to create a nose, a headdress and other three-dimensional elements. Once the entire sculpture is fully dried, metallic gold paint gives it a more authentic look.
If you have access to enough modeling clay for the whole class, have students make King Tut's bust out of modeling clay. Consult with your school art department about using their kilns or opt for air-drying clay. To create Tut's bust out of modeling clay, show your students how to start with a large egg shape for the head, a cylindrical shape for the neck and a sloping rectangle for the shoulders. Next, have them break the face into major shapes, gradually working out finer details, such as the eyes. To get the right proportions, provide them with a photograph and draw in lines to break it into quarters or thirds. Students can thereby note the relative position of the nose, eyes and mouth. If students make larger busts, let them mount the entire thing on a wooden dowel securely anchored in a piece of wood.
If you have limited access to materials, your students can still make an impressive King Tut sculpture out of nothing but paper. Use heavy card stock or manila folders for strength, and line them with colored paper for style. Have your class start their sculptures with a large square of cardboard or heavy stock paper. Next, they glue a second curled sheet of paper to the background, rounding it outward to form a neck, and finally, they glue on another sheet to serve as the head. Anchor the head to your background as necessary with smaller strips of stiff paper.
While a bust of King Tut makes an eye-catching and quickly recognizable project, there's no reason your class can't make a sculpture of something else related to the ancient king. If your students enjoy model-building, have them make replicas of his famous tomb, with the entrance, antechamber, burial chamber and treasure room in your model. This is a larger project that is ideal for collaborative group work.