300 Wax Museum Project Ideas For Students – Complete List

John Dear

Wax Museum Project Ideas For Students

Wax museum project ideas for students bring history, art, and stories into a fun class activity. Students make real wax figures of well-known people and also learn what made them special and why.

They wear easy costumes and practice saying lines as their person. The classroom turns into a stage where each student gives a short talk. This project helps everyone gain confidence, get better at reading and speaking, and work with friends. Teachers guide each student and help set up the displays. 

Wax museum day is full of smiles and claps. It is a bright, lively way to learn new things and celebrate each student’s hard work. Every child shines when their character comes to life.

Must Read: Top 399+ Social Media Project Ideas 2025-26

Wax Museum Project Ideas For Students

List of best Wax Museum Project Ideas For Students to score high marks:

1. Famous Scientists

  1. Albert Einstein – He made big new ideas about space, time, and energy.
  2. Marie Curie – She found radiation and won two special science awards.
  3. Thomas Edison – He made the light bulb and many other useful tools.
  4. Jane Goodall – She studied chimpanzees in the forest for many years.
  5. Isaac Newton – He worked out why things fall down because of gravity.
  6. Galileo Galilei – He used a telescope to learn amazing facts about space.
  7. George Washington Carver – He made hundreds of ways to use peanuts and plants.
  8. Rachel Carson – She wrote books about saving nature and stopping pollution.
  9. Leonardo da Vinci – He drew flying machine ideas long before planes were built.
  10. Charles Darwin – He showed how animals change slowly over time.
  11. Nikola Tesla – He thought up ways to use electricity that we still use today.
  12. Stephen Hawking – He studied black holes while using a special chair.
  13. Alexander Graham Bell – He built the first telephone so people could talk far away.
  14. Mae Jemison – She was the first Black woman astronaut to fly in space.
  15. Benjamin Franklin – He flew a kite in a storm and made many useful things.
  16. Louis Pasteur – He found out about germs and how to keep milk safe.
  17. Rosalind Franklin – She took special photos of DNA that helped other scientists.
  18. Jonas Salk – He created a shot that stopped polio disease.
  19. Katherine Johnson – She did math that helped NASA send people into space.
  20. Sally Ride – She was the first American woman to go into orbit.
  21. Neil deGrasse Tyson – He explains space facts on TV in a fun way.
  22. Carl Sagan – He taught everyone about stars and planets on TV.
  23. Dian Fossey – She kept mountain gorillas safe in Africa.
  24. Elizabeth Blackwell – She was the first woman doctor in the United States.
  25. Bill Nye – He is the “Science Guy” who makes learning fun on TV.

2. World Leaders

  1. Abraham Lincoln – He freed enslaved people and kept the country together.
  2. Mahatma Gandhi – He led India to freedom without using violence.
  3. Nelson Mandela – He spent many years in jail to win equal rights.
  4. Queen Elizabeth I – She ruled England when its navy grew strong.
  5. Martin Luther King Jr. – He dreamed that every person would be treated fairly.
  6. Eleanor Roosevelt – She worked hard to protect human rights.
  7. Winston Churchill – He led Britain through World War II with courage.
  8. Julius Caesar – He was a Roman ruler who won many lands long ago.
  9. Cleopatra – She was an Egyptian queen known for her wisdom and power.
  10. George Washington – He was the first U.S. president who helped start the country.
  11. Rosa Parks – She refused to give up her seat on a bus for unfair reasons.
  12. Alexander the Great – He was a young king who won many battles.
  13. Catherine the Great – She was a Russian empress who made her land stronger.
  14. Harriet Tubman – She guided enslaved people to freedom on secret trails.
  15. Franklin D. Roosevelt – He led the U.S. during the Depression and World War II.
  16. Queen Victoria – She ruled Britain for a very long time.
  17. Sitting Bull – He was a Native leader who fought to protect his people.
  18. Mansa Musa – He was a wealthy African king known for his gold.
  19. Theodore Roosevelt – He loved nature and created national parks.
  20. Joan of Arc – She was a young girl who led French soldiers to win battles.
  21. Sojourner Truth – She spoke out for women’s rights and ending slavery.
  22. Marcus Aurelius – He was a Roman emperor who wrote wise thoughts.
  23. Susan B. Anthony – She fought so women could vote in elections.
  24. Frederick Douglass – He escaped slavery and became a strong leader.
  25. Malala Yousafzai – She was shot because she wanted girls to go to school.

3. Artists and Musicians

  1. Leonardo da Vinci – He painted the Mona Lisa with a small, mysterious smile.
  2. Frida Kahlo – She was a Mexican painter known for bright self-portraits.
  3. Vincent van Gogh – He cut off part of his ear and painted starry nights.
  4. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – He wrote beautiful music when he was a child.
  5. Louis Armstrong – He played jazz trumpet and sang with a special sound.
  6. Georgia O’Keeffe – She painted large flowers and desert pictures.
  7. Pablo Picasso – He made cubist art with odd shapes and many eyes.
  8. Aretha Franklin – She was the Queen of Soul who sang with strong feeling.
  9. Michelangelo – He painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling while lying on his back.
  10. Elvis Presley – He was the King of Rock and Roll who danced wildly.
  11. Misty Copeland – She was the first Black lead dancer at a top ballet company.
  12. Bob Marley – He sang reggae songs about peace and love.
  13. Claude Monet – He painted water lilies and gardens with small dots.
  14. Ella Fitzgerald – She was a jazz singer famous for her scatting voice.
  15. Andy Warhol – He made art from soup cans and famous faces.
  16. Johann Sebastian Bach – He wrote complex music we still enjoy today.
  17. Yo-Yo Ma – He plays cello so beautifully it can make people cry.
  18. Beyoncé – She sings songs that tell girls they can be strong.
  19. Salvador Dalí – He drew melting clocks and other dreamlike scenes.
  20. Stevie Wonder – He is a blind musician who plays piano and sings with soul.
  21. Jackson Pollock – He splashed paint all over his canvases.
  22. Ludwig van Beethoven – He composed music even after he lost his hearing.
  23. Keith Haring – He drew simple, bright figures that seem to dance.
  24. Billie Holiday – She sang sad jazz songs wearing a flower in her hair.
  25. Diego Rivera – He painted big wall murals about working people.

4. Sports Heroes

  1. Jackie Robinson – He was the first Black player in modern major-league baseball.
  2. Muhammad Ali – He was a boxing champ who “floated like a butterfly.”
  3. Simone Biles – She does gymnastic moves no one else can do.
  4. Babe Ruth – He hit many home runs and pointed to where they would land.
  5. Serena Williams – She hits tennis balls very hard and wins major titles.
  6. Michael Jordan – He played basketball so well he looked like he could fly.
  7. Wilma Rudolph – She beat polio to become the fastest woman runner.
  8. Jesse Owens – He won four Olympic golds in front of Hitler.
  9. Mia Hamm – She played soccer for the U.S. and inspired many girls.
  10. Jim Thorpe – He was a Native athlete who excelled in many sports.
  11. Pelé – He was a Brazilian soccer star called “the greatest ever.”
  12. Billie Jean King – She beat Bobby Riggs to show women can win in tennis.
  13. Wayne Gretzky – He was a hockey player nicknamed “The Great One.”
  14. Megan Rapinoe – She plays soccer and fights for equal pay.
  15. Babe Didrikson Zaharias – She was great at almost every sport.
  16. Roberto Clemente – He was a baseball star who died helping earthquake victims.
  17. Bethany Hamilton – She kept surfing after a shark attack.
  18. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – He was a tall basketball legend with an unstoppable shot.
  19. Nadia Comăneci – She scored a perfect ten in Olympic gymnastics.
  20. Yao Ming – He was a very tall basketball star from China.
  21. Jim Abbott – He pitched in the big leagues with one hand.
  22. Venus Williams – She fought for equal prize money in tennis.
  23. Terry Fox – He ran across Canada on one leg to raise money for cancer.
  24. Diana Nyad – She swam from Cuba to Florida at an older age.
  25. Shaquem Griffin – He plays pro football with one hand.

5. Explorers and Adventurers

  1. Christopher Columbus – He sailed across the ocean looking for a new route.
  2. Amelia Earhart – She flew planes when most people said women could not.
  3. Neil Armstrong – He was the first person to walk on the moon.
  4. Lewis and Clark – They explored America from east to west.
  5. Sacagawea – She guided Lewis and Clark as a Native helper.
  6. Marco Polo – He traveled to China and wrote about it.
  7. Sally Ride – She was the first American woman in space.
  8. Edmund Hillary – He climbed to the top of Mount Everest.
  9. Tenzing Norgay – He was the Sherpa who reached Everest’s summit with Hillary.
  10. Matthew Henson – He was a Black explorer at the North Pole.
  11. Jacques Cousteau – He explored the ocean with diving gear.
  12. Mae Jemison – She was a doctor who also became an astronaut.
  13. Ibn Battuta – He was a Muslim traveler who visited many lands.
  14. Ernest Shackleton – He led his crew to safety when trapped in ice.
  15. Valentina Tereshkova – She was the first woman in space.
  16. Robert Peary – He led a trip that claimed to reach the North Pole.
  17. Bessie Coleman – She was the first Black woman pilot.
  18. James Cook – He sailed around the world and made maps.
  19. Junko Tabei – She was the first woman to climb Everest.
  20. Roald Amundsen – He was the first to reach the South Pole.
  21. Gertrude Bell – She mapped the Middle East as a female explorer.
  22. Alan Shepard – He was the first American in space.
  23. Thor Heyerdahl – He sailed on a raft across the ocean.
  24. Nellie Bly – She circled the globe as a reporter.
  25. Yuri Gagarin – He was the very first person in space.

6. Authors and Storytellers

  1. William Shakespeare – He wrote plays about love, death, and jokes.
  2. J.K. Rowling – She created Harry Potter and his magic world.
  3. Dr. Seuss – He made up silly words in books like Green Eggs and Ham.
  4. Langston Hughes – He wrote poems about being Black in America.
  5. Jane Austen – She wrote stories of love long ago.
  6. Mark Twain – He told tales of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.
  7. Maya Angelou – She wrote strong poems about her life.
  8. Roald Dahl – He made up Willy Wonka and his chocolate factory.
  9. Emily Dickinson – She wrote poems at home and stayed inside.
  10. Shel Silverstein – He drew fun pictures and wrote playful poems.
  11. Toni Morrison – She wrote books about Black people’s lives.
  12. Hans Christian Andersen – He made fairy tales like The Little Mermaid.
  13. Judy Blume – She writes stories about real problems kids face.
  14. Rudyard Kipling – He wrote The Jungle Book about a boy and animals.
  15. Beverly Cleary – She created Ramona Quimby and her funny days.
  16. Edgar Allan Poe – He wrote spooky tales that give shivers.
  17. Laura Ingalls Wilder – She told of life in little houses in the woods.
  18. A.A. Milne – He made Winnie the Pooh and his forest friends.
  19. E.B. White – He wrote about Charlotte the spider and her web.
  20. Brothers Grimm – They collected fairy tales like “Cinderella.”
  21. Maurice Sendak – He wrote of wild things and night kitchens.
  22. C.S. Lewis – He made Narnia, reached through a magic wardrobe.
  23. Virginia Hamilton – She wrote many books on Black experiences.
  24. Beatrix Potter – She drew Peter Rabbit and garden animals.
  25. Lemony Snicket – He wrote stories of unlucky orphans.

7. Inventors

  1. Thomas Edison – He made the first light bulb that worked well.
  2. Alexander Graham Bell – He built the first working telephone.
  3. Wright Brothers – They flew the first real airplane.
  4. Steve Jobs – He made the iPhone and changed computers.
  5. Benjamin Franklin – He invented bifocals and the lightning rod.
  6. Stephanie Kwolek – She made Kevlar, used in safety vests.
  7. Eli Whitney – He made the cotton gin to clean cotton fast.
  8. Grace Hopper – She made computer languages we use today.
  9. Leonardo da Vinci – He designed tanks and helicopters on paper.
  10. Madam C.J. Walker – She made hair products and became rich.
  11. Johannes Gutenberg – He built a press to print many books.
  12. Hedy Lamarr – She was a star who helped invent wireless tech.
  13. George Washington Carver – He found hundreds of peanut uses.
  14. Mary Anderson – She made windshield wipers for rain.
  15. Tim Berners-Lee – He built the World Wide Web.
  16. Patricia Bath – She made laser eye treatment to help the blind.
  17. Nikola Tesla – He set up the electric power system we use now.
  18. Garrett Morgan – He made traffic lights and a gas mask.
  19. James Naismith – He invented basketball with peach baskets.
  20. Temple Grandin – She made kinder ways to care for farm animals.
  21. Lewis Latimer – He improved the light bulb to last much longer.
  22. Ann Tsukamoto – She found how to identify stem cells for treatment.
  23. Philo Farnsworth – He invented the television when he was young.
  24. Ada Lovelace – She wrote the first computer program long ago.
  25. Lonnie Johnson – He made the Super Soaker water gun.

8. Activists and Changemakers

  1. Martin Luther King Jr. – He dreamed of equal rights for everyone.
  2. Malala Yousafzai – She was shot for wanting girls to go to school.
  3. Greta Thunberg – She skipped class to protest for our climate.
  4. Ruby Bridges – She was six when she desegregated her school.
  5. Cesar Chavez – He helped farm workers win fair pay.
  6. Helen Keller – She learned to share words despite no sight or hearing.
  7. Nelson Mandela – He served 27 years in prison for freedom.
  8. Jane Goodall – She protects chimpanzees and teaches saving nature.
  9. Harvey Milk – He was one of the first openly gay leaders.
  10. Wangari Maathai – She planted trees across Africa for the earth.
  11. Dolores Huerta – She fought for farm workers saying, “Yes we can!”
  12. Desmond Tutu – He was a priest who spoke against unfair laws.
  13. Audre Lorde – She wrote poems for Black women’s rights.
  14. Fred Rogers – He made “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” to teach kindness.
  15. Mahatma Gandhi – He led peaceful protests for India’s freedom.
  16. Rigoberta Menchú – She stood up for indigenous people in Guatemala.
  17. Septima Clark – She taught Black adults to read so they could vote.
  18. Ryan White – He shared lessons about AIDS while he was ill.
  19. Thurgood Marshall – He fought against school segregation as a lawyer.
  20. Dian Fossey – She saved gorillas from hunters in mountain forests.
  21. Betty Ford – She spoke openly about cancer and addiction.
  22. Tarana Burke – She started the “Me Too” movement to stop abuse.
  23. Fred Korematsu – He fought against internment of Japanese Americans.
  24. Sylvia Rivera – She spoke up for transgender people’s rights.
  25. John Muir – He protected wild lands and began national parks.

9. Medical Heroes

  1. Florence Nightingale – She used numbers to make hospitals cleaner.
  2. Elizabeth Blackwell – She was the first American woman doctor.
  3. Jonas Salk – He made the polio vaccine and gave it for free.
  4. Marie Curie – She found radiation that helps treat cancer.
  5. Joseph Lister – He showed that washing hands stops infections.
  6. Clara Barton – She started the American Red Cross to help people.
  7. Virginia Apgar – She made a quick test to check newborn babies.
  8. Alexander Fleming – He found penicillin after seeing mold by chance.
  9. Hippocrates – He was an ancient doctor who set a high-ethics oath.
  10. Mary Seacole – She treated soldiers in the Crimean War on her own.
  11. Charles Drew – He learned to store blood for safe transfusions.
  12. Rosalind Franklin – She snapped DNA photos that showed its shape.
  13. Ignaz Semmelweis – He proved handwashing saves moms in childbirth.
  14. Elizabeth Kenny – She made physical therapy for polio patients.
  15. René Laennec – He built the stethoscope to hear hearts better.
  16. Rebecca Lee Crumpler – She was the first Black woman doctor in America.
  17. Edward Jenner – He used cowpox to keep people from getting smallpox.
  18. Helen Taussig – She led early heart surgery for “blue baby” children.
  19. Vivien Thomas – He helped design heart surgery steps in lab work.
  20. Rita Levi-Montalcini – She found how nerves grow during WWII.
  21. Daniel Hale Williams – He did the first open-heart surgery that worked.
  22. Margaret Sanger – She fought so women could choose birth control.
  23. Wilhelm Röntgen – He discovered X-rays to see inside the body.
  24. Paul Farmer – He treated poor patients around the globe for free.
  25. James Barry – She lived as a man so she could practice medicine.

10. Influential Thinkers

  1. Albert Einstein – He changed how we see space and time.
  2. Aristotle – He was an ancient Greek who wrote on nearly every topic.
  3. Confucius – His Chinese teachings still guide many people today.
  4. Socrates – He asked questions to help people think more deeply.
  5. Plato – He was Socrates’ student who wrote about an ideal world.
  6. René Descartes – He said, “I think, therefore I am” about our mind.
  7. Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) – He taught about suffering and peace.
  8. Marie Curie – She changed science with invisible radiation ideas.
  9. Simone de Beauvoir – She wrote on how women are treated by society.
  10. Carl Jung – He studied dreams and our mind’s hidden parts.
  11. Galileo Galilei – He proved Earth goes around the sun.
  12. John Locke – He believed governments should protect natural rights.
  13. Mary Wollstonecraft – She wrote early arguments for women’s rights.
  14. Alan Turing – He thought up computer ideas before computers existed.
  15. Jean-Jacques Rousseau – He said people are good but can be changed.
  16. Hypatia – She was an ancient woman mathematician killed for her work.
  17. Friedrich Nietzsche – He wrote on power and making your own values.
  18. Voltaire – He used wit to criticize unfair rule and beliefs.
  19. W.E.B. Du Bois – He wrote about Black Americans’ struggles.
  20. Hannah Arendt – She studied how normal people can do bad acts.
  21. Ralph Waldo Emerson – He said trust yourself and learn from nature.
  22. Michel Foucault – He studied how power shapes our thoughts.
  23. Gloria Steinem – She spread women’s rights ideas in magazines.
  24. John Dewey – He taught that doing leads to learning, not just memorizing.
  25. Marcus Aurelius – He was a Roman emperor who wrote wise sayings in bed.

11. Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders

  1. Walt Disney – He started with a mouse drawing and built an empire.
  2. Oprah Winfrey – She rose from poverty to become a TV billionaire.
  3. Steve Jobs – He made Apple in his garage and changed technology.
  4. Madam C.J. Walker – She was the first woman millionaire from hair care.
  5. Henry Ford – He made cars cheap so many people could own one.
  6. Coco Chanel – She designed simple clothes that changed fashion.
  7. Milton Hershey – He built a chocolate company and a home for orphans.
  8. Estée Lauder – She started a makeup empire with homemade creams.
  9. Bill Gates – He founded Microsoft and gives billions to charity.
  10. Daymond John – He built the FUBU clothing brand with $40 fabric.
  11. Sara Blakely – She cut her pantyhose to invent Spanx shapewear.
  12. Colonel Sanders – He began KFC after getting his first Social Security check.
  13. Elon Musk – He builds electric cars and dreams of living on Mars.
  14. Berry Gordy – He started Motown Records with an $800 loan.
  15. Mary Kay Ash – She founded a makeup company to empower sellers.
  16. Andrew Carnegie – He made steel and gave away libraries for free.
  17. Indra Nooyi – She led PepsiCo and pushed for healthier foods.
  18. Ray Kroc – He grew McDonald’s into restaurants around the world.
  19. Madame Tussaud – She made wax figures of famous people in France.
  20. John D. Rockefeller – He built an oil business and gave away his fortune.
  21. Shirley Temple – She was a child star who later ran businesses.
  22. Jeff Bezos – He sold books online from his garage to build Amazon.
  23. Josiah Wedgwood – He made fine dishes that queens wanted to buy.
  24. Martha Stewart – She built a home-life empire teaching cooking and decor.
  25. P.T. Barnum – He created “The Greatest Show on Earth” circus.

12. Movie and TV Stars

  1. Charlie Chaplin – He made silent films wearing a bowler hat and cane.
  2. Lucille Ball – She was the funny redhead in I Love Lucy.
  3. Marilyn Monroe – She was a famous blonde movie star in a white dress.
  4. Chadwick Boseman – He played Black Panther and other heroes.
  5. Julie Andrews – She sang in The Sound of Music about favorite things.
  6. Tom Hanks – He played Forrest Gump and many kind characters.
  7. Audrey Hepburn – She was beautiful and helped children in need.
  8. Robin Williams – He made people laugh but struggled inside.
  9. Viola Davis – She won Emmy, Oscar, and Tony awards.
  10. Jackie Chan – He does his own stunts in action movies.
  11. Carol Burnett – She pulled her ear to end each funny show.
  12. Sidney Poitier – He was the first Black man to win Best Actor.
  13. Betty White – She acted on TV for over eighty years.
  14. Bruce Lee – He made kung fu famous in movies.
  15. Shirley Temple – She sang and danced with curly hair as a child.
  16. James Earl Jones – He voiced Darth Vader and Mufasa the lion.
  17. Judy Garland – She was Dorothy who sang “Over the Rainbow.”
  18. Keanu Reeves – He was Neo in The Matrix and gives to charity.
  19. Mary Tyler Moore – She threw her hat up in Minneapolis on TV.
  20. Christopher Reeve – He was Superman who worked after paralysis.
  21. Hattie McDaniel – She was the first African American Oscar winner.
  22. Mr. Rogers – He taught kindness and changed shoes on his show.
  23. Whoopi Goldberg – She is one of the few EGOT winners.
  24. Jim Henson – He made Kermit the Frog and the Muppets.
  25. Mae West – She told people, “Come up and see me sometime,” on screen.

Living Wax Museum Character Ideas

  1. Harriet Tubman – She helped over 300 enslaved people escape to freedom on hidden paths.
  2. Pythagoras – A very old math thinker who found a special rule about triangles.
  3. Cleopatra – An Egyptian queen who spoke many languages and led her people.
  4. Marie Antoinette – A French queen who never really said “let them eat cake.”
  5. Pocahontas – A Native American girl who helped early settlers stay alive in hard winters.
  6. Aristotle – A Greek teacher who taught Alexander the Great many important ideas.
  7. Ida B. Wells – A brave writer who told the world about cruel lynchings.
  8. Johannes Kepler – He proved planets move in oval paths, not perfect circles.
  9. Booker T. Washington – Born a slave, he built a school for Black students.
  10. Mary Shelley – A young writer who dreamed up the story of Frankenstein.
  11. Genghis Khan – He started small but made the biggest land empire ever.
  12. Louisa May Alcott – She wrote Little Women about her own sisters.
  13. Chief Joseph – A leader who said, “I will fight no more forever,” to bring peace.
  14. John James Audubon – He painted real birds in their homes in nature.
  15. Sojourner Truth – She ran from slavery and gave the speech “Ain’t I a Woman?”
  16. Saladin – A Muslim leader even his enemies called kind and fair.
  17. Lucy Stone – She kept her own name when she got married, even though no one did that then.
  18. Samuel Morse – He made the dot-and-dash code to send messages by wire.
  19. Buffalo Bill – He showed Wild West acts in big shows across America and Europe.
  20. Maria Montessori – She set up schools where children learn by playing.
  21. Sitting Bull – A Lakota chief who beat General Custer at Little Bighorn.
  22. Elizabeth Blackwell – The first woman doctor in America who helped others follow.
  23. Archimedes – He yelled “Eureka!” in his bath when he made a big discovery.
  24. Hatshepsut – A woman pharaoh in Egypt who even wore a fake beard.
  25. Jesse Owens – He won four gold medals in front of Hitler at the Olympics.
  26. Mary McLeod Bethune – She started a college with just $1.50 and a dream.
  27. Ibn Sina – A Muslim doctor whose books taught medicine for centuries.
  28. Phillis Wheatley – An enslaved girl who became the first Black poet published in America.
  29. Leif Erikson – A Viking who came to America long before Columbus.
  30. Clara Barton – Called the “Angel of the Battlefield,” she began the American Red Cross.
  31. Moctezuma II – The Aztec emperor who met Cortés with gifts, not war.
  32. Mary Cassatt – An American painter who loved to show mothers and babies.
  33. Duke Ellington – A jazz leader whose music made people dance and think.
  34. Annie Oakley – A sharpshooter who could hit a dime in the air.
  35. Sequoyah – He made a writing system so Cherokee children could read.
  36. Hypatia – A woman math teacher in ancient times who was killed for her smarts.
  37. Crazy Horse – A Lakota leader who fought to keep the Black Hills safe.
  38. Margaret Mead – She studied people on faraway islands to learn about new cultures.
  39. Emperor Qin – He joined all of China and is buried with thousands of clay soldiers.
  40. Bessie Coleman – The first Black woman pilot who did daring sky tricks.

Living Wax Museum School Project

  1. Gregor Mendel – A monk who studied pea plants to learn how traits pass on.
  2. Catherine the Great – A Russian empress who brought new ideas and art to her land.
  3. Ramses II – An Egyptian pharaoh who built more statues than any other king.
  4. Jean-Michel Basquiat – He started as a street artist and became a famous painter.
  5. Robert Fulton – He built steamboats that could go upstream against the current.
  6. Queen Liliuokalani – The last ruler of Hawaii who stood up for her people.
  7. Francisco Vásquez de Coronado – He searched for seven golden cities in America.
  8. Clara Lemlich – A young worker who led a big strike for women in factories.
  9. Zheng He – A Chinese sailor with ships even bigger than Columbus’s.
  10. Ada Lovelace – She wrote the first computer code for a machine that was never built.
  11. Geronimo – An Apache leader who fought to keep his land free.
  12. Margaret Wise Brown – She wrote Goodnight Moon, a bedtime favorite even today.
  13. Suleiman the Magnificent – An Ottoman ruler whose empire covered three continents.
  14. Edmonia Lewis – A sculptor who rose above racism to carve marble beauties.
  15. Antonio Vivaldi – He wrote The Four Seasons, music that sounds like spring, summer, fall, and winter.
  16. Bessie Smith – The “Empress of the Blues” with a voice full of power and soul.
  17. Imhotep – An Egyptian who built the first pyramid and cared for the sick.
  18. Alice Paul – She fasted to help women win the right to vote.
  19. Toyotomi Hideyoshi – A boy born poor who grew up to unite Japan.
  20. Fannie Lou Hamer – A sharecropper who became a strong civil rights leader.
  21. Ibn Battuta – He traveled more miles than Marco Polo over thirty years.
  22. Dorothea Lange – She took the famous Migrant Mother photo during the Great Depression.
  23. Francis Drake – A pirate who changed sides and sailed all around the world.
  24. Mary Anning – She found huge fossil reptiles when she was just a poor girl.
  25. Nikola Tesla – He made the electricity that lights our homes today.
  26. Marjory Stoneman Douglas – She saved the Florida Everglades with her strong writing.
  27. Marcus Garvey – He told Black people to be proud and build their own businesses.
  28. Abigail Adams – She told her husband to “remember the ladies” when he made laws.
  29. Percy Julian – A chemist who made medicines from plants despite many obstacles.
  30. Zitkala-Sa – A Native American who kept her people’s songs alive and fought for their rights.
  31. Bartolomé de las Casas – A priest who spoke up for Native American people.
  32. Florence Sabin – The first woman medical professor who made public health better.
  33. Richard Feynman – A scientist who used simple stories to explain big ideas.
  34. Madam C.J. Walker – She made hair products and became the first self-made female millionaire.
  35. Rabindranath Tagore – An Indian poet who won the Nobel Prize and started a school.
  36. Irena Sendler – She rescued 2,500 Jewish children in World War II with secret notes.
  37. Peter the Great – A Russian tsar who learned shipbuilding by working in a dockyard.
  38. Tina Turner – She rose above hard times to become the “Queen of Rock and Roll.”
  39. Antoni Gaudí – An architect who made buildings that look like they’re melting.
  40. Grace O’Malley – An Irish pirate queen who met Queen Elizabeth I face to face.

Historical Figures Wax Museum

  1. Hannibal – He led elephants over mountains to surprise Rome.
  2. Eleanor of Aquitaine – A powerful queen who ran England while her husband was away on crusade.
  3. Sappho – An ancient Greek poet whose love poems still exist today.
  4. Omar Ibn Said – An enslaved African scholar who wrote his life story in Arabic.
  5. Akbar the Great – A Mughal emperor who brought different faiths together.
  6. Zora Neale Hurston – She collected folk tales and wrote about Black life in the South.
  7. Babur – He founded the Mughal Empire in India and kept a detailed diary.
  8. Annie Jump Cannon – She sorted hundreds of thousands of stars by their type.
  9. James Baldwin – A writer who spoke strong words about race in America.
  10. Isabella I of Castile – A queen who united Spain and sent Columbus to the New World.
  11. Leif Erikson – A Viking who reached North America 500 years before Columbus.
  12. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz – A Mexican nun who fought for women’s right to learn.
  13. Kublai Khan – A Mongol emperor who welcomed Marco Polo to China.
  14. Dorothy Vaughan – A “human computer” at NASA who became a coding expert.
  15. William Shakespeare – A playwright who used new words nobody used before.
  16. Wang Zhenyi – A Chinese astronomer who made eclipses easy to understand for everyone.
  17. David Livingstone – An explorer who searched for the Nile River’s source.
  18. Empress Wu Zetian – The only woman in China to rule as emperor.
  19. Montezuma II – The Aztec ruler who met Cortés with gifts of gold.
  20. Hedy Lamarr – A movie star who helped invent secret radio signals.
  21. Hammurabi – A Babylonian king who wrote one of the first law codes.
  22. Sacagawea – A Native American girl who guided Lewis and Clark across America.
  23. Zoroaster – An ancient prophet whose ideas shaped many religions.
  24. Mary Anning – She found dinosaur fossils that changed how people thought about Earth.
  25. Mansa Musa – An African king so rich that his gold lowered its value.
  26. Harriet Beecher Stowe – She wrote a book about slavery that stirred the nation.
  27. Peter Stuyvesant – A wooden-legged governor who built a wall on Wall Street.
  28. Julia Child – A tall chef who made French cooking easy for Americans.
  29. Hernán Cortés – A Spanish conqueror who took over the Aztecs with help from some tribes.
  30. Boudicca – A British queen who fought Roman invaders.
  31. Chinggis Khan – A nomad who built the largest land empire ever known.
  32. Mary Fields – A former slave called “Stagecoach Mary” who delivered mail by coach.
  33. St. Francis of Assisi – A rich man who gave everything away to help the poor.
  34. Murasaki Shikibu – A Japanese noblewoman who wrote the world’s first novel.
  35. John Marshall – A Supreme Court chief who made the court very powerful.
  36. Anne Frank – A Jewish girl whose diary gives hope in dark times.
  37. Leif Erikson – A Viking who reached North America before Columbus.
  38. Nefertiti – An Egyptian queen famous for a beautiful stone bust of her head.
  39. Henry Hudson – An explorer looking for a shortcut to Asia who found a river instead.
  40. Phillis Wheatley – An enslaved teen poet who became America’s first Black author.

Female Wax Museum Characters

  1. Grace Hopper – A Navy admiral who found the first computer bug, a real moth.
  2. Nefertiti – The Egyptian queen whose stone bust still amazes people.
  3. Indira Gandhi – India’s first woman prime minister for 15 years.
  4. Mary Leakey – She found ancient human footprints in hardened volcanic ash.
  5. Zaha Hadid – An architect who made buildings with smooth, curvy shapes.
  6. Queen Nzinga – An African ruler who fought Portuguese colonizers for years.
  7. Wilma Rudolph – She had polio as a child, then became the world’s fastest woman.
  8. Maria Tallchief – The first Native American prima ballerina who danced beautifully.
  9. Hypatia – An ancient math teacher killed by an angry crowd for her learning.
  10. Wu Zetian – The only woman to rule China as emperor, not just empress.
  11. Junko Tabei – The first woman to climb Mount Everest even after an avalanche.
  12. Emmy Noether – A math genius Einstein called “beautiful” and important.
  13. Rigoberta Menchú – An indigenous woman who won the Nobel Peace Prize.
  14. Irène Joliot-Curie – A Nobel Prize winner just like her mother, Marie Curie.
  15. Corazon Aquino – A housewife who became president after her husband was killed.
  16. Mary Seacole – A Jamaican nurse who cared for soldiers in the Crimean War.
  17. Lise Meitner – She discovered nuclear fission but never got the Nobel Prize.
  18. Ching Shih – A pirate leader who commanded over 300 ships.
  19. Wangari Maathai – She began planting trees all over Africa to help the Earth.
  20. Caroline Herschel – The first woman paid for finding new comets in the sky.
  21. Sophie Germain – A self-taught mathematician who used a man’s name to study.
  22. Margaret Hamilton – She wrote the code that helped land Apollo astronauts on the Moon.
  23. Rani Lakshmibai – An Indian queen who fought the British while holding her baby.
  24. Mary Edwards Walker – The only woman to win the Medal of Honor.
  25. Queen Hatshepsut – A pharaoh who even wore a fake beard to lead like a king.
  26. Rosalind Franklin – She took the X-ray photo that showed DNA’s true shape.
  27. Sybil Ludington – A sixteen-year-old who rode twice as far as Paul Revere.
  28. Margaret Sanger – She fought for women’s right to control their own bodies.
  29. Jeanne d’Arc – A teenage girl who led the French army in battle.
  30. Dr. Gladys West – A mathematician whose work helped make GPS possible.
  31. Ada Lovelace – She wrote an algorithm for a machine that was never built.
  32. Annie Oakley – She could shoot the edge of a playing card from 90 feet.
  33. Bessie Coleman – The first Black woman pilot who refused to fly in segregated planes.
  34. Temple Grandin – She designed gentle cattle pens using her unique view of the world.
  35. Frances Perkins – The first woman in the U.S. cabinet who helped create Social Security.
  36. Katherine Johnson – She calculated rocket paths so NASA could reach the Moon.
  37. Sarah Breedlove (Madam C.J. Walker) – She made hair care products and became a self-made millionaire.
  38. Elizabeth Cady Stanton – She began the fight for women’s right to vote in America.
  39. Mother Teresa – A nun who gave her life to help the poorest people around the world.
  40. Dorothy Hodgkin – She used X-rays to find the shapes of penicillin, insulin, and vitamins.

How To Do A Wax Museum Project?

1. PROJECT OVERVIEW

A wax museum project asks students to learn about someone from long ago. Students find facts about that person, make a costume, and stand very still like a wax statue. When a visitor presses a button or says a cue, the student “wakes up” and shares what they learned. This hands-on activity uses research, clear speaking, and creative acting.

2. SELECTING A HISTORICAL FIGURE

Pick a person from history who did something important. It could be someone who helped others, made a big discovery, or changed the way people live. Try to choose someone who fits what you like or what you are studying now.

3. RESEARCH PROCESS

Gather key facts about your figure. Find out where they came from, what they achieved, the hard times they faced, and how they changed history. Use trusted books, websites, or library resources.

4. CREATING YOUR PRESENTATION

Write a short, clear speech about your person’s life. Include interesting facts, a memorable quote they said, and the most important things they did.

5. COSTUME DESIGN

Plan and build a costume that matches the time your person lived in. Add small details like hats, jewelry, or tools they used. Think about hair, shoes, and any props to make it look real.

6. VISUAL AIDS

Make posters, displays, or slides to support your speech. You can show a timeline, old photos, maps, or simple props that link to your person’s story.

7. PRACTICING YOUR PERFORMANCE

Practice standing still like a statue and then shifting into talking mode. Work on speaking clearly, using your body to show ideas, and keeping good posture.

8. SETTING UP YOUR DISPLAY

Arrange a neat area with your posters, props, and a name sign. Make sure people can move around and see everything easily.

9. EVENT ORGANIZATION

Work with classmates to plan where each student’s display will go. Create a map or list so visitors know the order of presentations.

10. ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

Know how your project will be scored. Teachers will look at your research effort, how well you speak, how real your costume is, and how creative your work appears. Check any guides or score sheets your teacher gives you.

10 Benefits Of Doing Wax Museum Projects

1. Enhanced Research Skills

Wax museum projects make students do deep research on people from history, teaching them skills to find good information. Students learn to pick trustworthy sources and turn information into short reports.

2. Public Speaking Development

These projects give students a clear plan to practice and improve their speaking skills in a fun creative way. Students build confidence sharing ideas with others and stay calm while people watch them.

3. Historical Comprehension

By acting out the lives of people from the past, students get a grasp of the time and why it matters. Students link that story to events in history, helping them remember facts.

4. Cross-Curricular Integration

Wax museum projects bring together subjects like history, reading, art, tech. This mix helps students learn in areas and shows how classroom work can be used in life.

5. Creative Expression

Costume design acting in wax museum projects help students show their own art ideas. Students learn to solve creative problems while making true-to-history models with the things they have.

6. Character Development

Playing the role of an important person from history helps students feel emotions see views. Students learn how people thought about problems and how they made choices in past.

7. Project Management Skills

Planning a wax museum show teaches good skills to stay organized use time well. Students learn to coordinate multiple project parts like research, writing, costume making, and presentation practice.

8. Parental and Community Engagement

Wax museum shows give families and community a way to join in student learning. These fun displays show student work and build school ties.

9. Differentiated Learning

Wax museum projects let all students with different learning styles and skills show what they do best in class. Kids who learn by seeing, listening, or moving find parts of the project that fit how they learn.

10. Long-Term Knowledge Retention

By living the history in a wax museum project, students make stronger links and remember. Students usually hold onto facts learned this way much longer than from regular class lessons.

Must Read: 180 Creative English Project Ideas for Students

Summary

Wax museum project ideas for students are a fun way for kids to learn and share what they know. In this task, each kid picks a real or made-up person and acts like them. Kids dress up, practice what their person might say, and stand still like a statue. Classmates walk around and listen to each statue tell their story, like at a museum. 

This project helps kids learn about history, feel proud of themselves, and share their ideas. The room feels alive with excitement as each statue speaks in their own voice. Teachers and family love watching this lively mix of facts and ideas. With easy steps and some fun, wax museum projects become a class favorite.

John Dear

I am a creative professional with over 5 years of experience in coming up with project ideas. I'm great at brainstorming, doing market research, and analyzing what’s possible to develop innovative and impactful projects. I also excel in collaborating with teams, managing project timelines, and ensuring that every idea turns into a successful outcome. Let's work together to make your next project a success!