How to Make a Terracotta Warrior School Project

The discovery of the Terracotta Warriors, a vast army of more than 8,000 clay soldiers in China, was a major find for anthropologists and art historians worldwide. Each sculpture is different, possibly modeled after individuals in Emperor Qin's army around 220 BC. In addition to the soldiers, the tomb of Emperor Qin also contained some of his court's entertainers. Doing an elementary school project about the Terracotta Warriors can be both fun and educational for students and teachers alike.

Teach students the history of the Terracotta Warriors. Read passages aloud from your selected source.

Talk about the purpose of the army. Let students propose possible reasons for creating the sculptures.

Talk about Chinese culture from the Qin dynasty. Explain that much of China's legacy was destroyed and why it is important for a culture to preserve artifacts when it finds them.

Tell students that they will be making their own version of the Terracotta Warriors -- Paper Mache Warriors.

Have each child make a list of three important people in their lives. They should write a page about each person.

Give each child three balloons (one for each head they will be making) and set up their workstations. Have them mix two cups of flour with six cups of water to make the glue.

Have the children blow up the balloons and place strips of newspaper coated with the glue mixture over the balloon until it's covered. They should do this with three balloons each.

When the paper mache is completely dry, have students use the gray, black and white paint to paint the faces of their three chosen people. Now they have their own Paper Mache Warriors.