Old Age, Fantasy, Animal, Clown Stage Makeup Design Lesson, Pop-Up Book Activity
Teach stylized character stage makeup with ready-to-use slides, teacher script, student notes, and a creative pop-up book project—perfect for Grades 6–12 drama classes!
Design bold, stylized characters with this engaging stage makeup unit for Grades 6–12! Students explore old age, clown, fantasy, and animal makeup through high-interest slides, guided notes, and a creative pop-up book activity that makes design personal, purposeful, and fun.
This unit goes beyond simple sketching—it helps students understand how makeup tells a story. With a strong focus on analysis, visual inspiration, and practical design steps, students will research, plan, and create a creative pop-up book that captures their character’s personality through a mood board, eyes, nose, mouth, and accessories.
Teach stylized character stage makeup with ready-to-use slides, teacher script, student notes, and a creative pop-up book project—perfect for Grades 6–12 drama classes!
Design bold, stylized characters with this engaging stage makeup unit for Grades 6–12! Students explore old age, clown, fantasy, and animal makeup through high-interest slides, guided notes, and a creative pop-up book activity that makes design personal, purposeful, and fun.
This unit goes beyond simple sketching—it helps students understand how makeup tells a story. With a strong focus on analysis, visual inspiration, and practical design steps, students will research, plan, and create a creative pop-up book that captures their character’s personality through a mood board, eyes, nose, mouth, and accessories.
Teach stylized character stage makeup with ready-to-use slides, teacher script, student notes, and a creative pop-up book project—perfect for Grades 6–12 drama classes!
Design bold, stylized characters with this engaging stage makeup unit for Grades 6–12! Students explore old age, clown, fantasy, and animal makeup through high-interest slides, guided notes, and a creative pop-up book activity that makes design personal, purposeful, and fun.
This unit goes beyond simple sketching—it helps students understand how makeup tells a story. With a strong focus on analysis, visual inspiration, and practical design steps, students will research, plan, and create a creative pop-up book that captures their character’s personality through a mood board, eyes, nose, mouth, and accessories.
Why Teachers Love It:
Focused on Specialized Character Stage Makeup: Covers key makeup styles like clown makeup, old age makeup, fantasy makeup, animal makeup, making it perfect for theater teachers seeking specialized lessons. Note: this unit does not get into special effects makeup, other than mentioning the basics of prosthetics. If you're looking for Special Effects Makeup design and techniques, see Part 5 of this series: Special Effects Makeup Design for more comprehensive coverage of SFX Design and Techniques.
Interactive and Fun: Students will be inspired as they bring their characters to life through brainstorming, research, and artistic expression.
Adaptable and Teacher-Friendly: Includes ready-to-use materials and a detailed Teaching Script for easy implementation.
Customizable Materials: While the basic lesson presentation is a one-day lesson, the Character Design Pop-Up Book project, if you choose to integrate this into your lesson, will take several days to complete.
Low-prep, high-value: With editable slides and ready-to-print materials, you’ll spend less time planning and more time teaching.
No makeup kits or prior experience required!
Perfect For:
Middle & high school drama or tech theater classes (Grades 5–12)
Units on character design, makeup, or symbolic storytelling
Art/theater crossover projects
Schools without access to real stage makeup
Long-term sub plans or flexible pacing lessons
What’s Included:
Editable Canva Template Link slides presentation: Introduces makeup design concepts, including clown makeup, old age makeup, fantasy makeup, and animal makeup.
Guided Notes with Answer Key: Keep students focused and engaged as they learn the key concepts of character stage makeup design and application.
Slides Thumbnails with complete Teacher Script to make teaching easy.
Slides Thumbnails with Blank Boxes for Student Note-Taking
Exit Ticket / Quick Quiz with answer key
Character Makeup Pop-Up Book Project: A creative, interactive project where students design a character’s face feature by feature, including a mood board, eyes, nose, mouth, colors/textures, and accessories. Students also use a face chart to create their final look. Includes a worksheet, step-by-step instructions, and a rubric for easy grading.
Parent/Guardian Notice and Consent Form: Inform parents about the use of makeup in class and the possibility of viewing graphic special effects images.
Teacher’s Notes: Includes a lesson summary, learning objectives, materials setup instructions, adaptations for ELL and Special Education students, a lesson outline, extension ideas, and project rubric.
Why Your Students Will Love It:
Lets them build their own characters from scratch
Encourages imagination, color, and personality
Creative format (pop-up book) makes design feel dynamic and personal
Includes choice, visuals, and storytelling—not just worksheets
Estimated Time:
1 class period (30-45 mins) for lesson and/or quiz/exit ticket; 2-5 days for Pop-Up Project
