You’re preparing to do a school wax museum project with students and need character ideas that will fit with your learning objectives and student interests.
Look no more because I’ve done the work for you.
As an educator, I have organized the living wax museum project with students several times, and each time I update my living wax museum character list.
This resource reduces the amount of time spent brainstorming enough good character ideas that are appropriate and interesting for students.
The living wax museum character list that I’m sharing with you includes a wide variety of famous people from different areas of life including black Americans, creators, explorers, authors, entertainers, astronauts, and historical figures.
Notice that I didn’t write a description of each person.
This is deliberate as I’m of the mind that students should research characters that pique their interests and then choose one. This is part of the museum wax project process.
Students become more engaged when their curiosity is activated.
Additionally, many teachers, including myself, require students to write a biography of their chosen person as a class assignment.
The options are plentiful for what you can do with a living wax museum project. See other helpful wax museum project ideas here.
No matter the grade you teach or the theme you plan to have for your upcoming project, I am confident you will find ideas using this living wax museum character list.
Note: This list is not exhaustive. However, it includes plenty of wax museum character ideas for students. Feel free to add your own.
Living Wax Museum Character List
If you need ideas for hosting a virtual max museum for distance learning, consider having students complete a presentation about one of these famous characters.
Also ask students to submit a biography about the person they represent.
Famous Black Americans
- George Washington Carver
- Bass Reeves
- Bessie Coleman
- Mae Jemison
- Elijah McCoy
- Alvin Ailey
- Marian Anderson
- Harriet Tubman
- Louis Armstrong
- Ella Fitzgerald
- Henry Box Brown
- Muhammad Ali
- Frederick Douglass
- Arthur Ashe
- Simone Biles
- Berry Gordy
- Serena Williams
- Malcolm X
- Martin Luther King Jr.
- Thurgood Marshall
- Rosa Parks
- Condoleezza Rice
- Maya Angelou
- Alex Haley
- Phillis Wheatley
- Ruby Bridges
Keep in mind that there are countless black Americans in history who rarely receive the recognition they deserve.
So also consider researching lesser-known black Americans.
Astronauts
- Aleksey Leonov
- Sally Ride
- Alan Shepard
- Gherman Titov
- Christa McAuliffe
- Mae Jemison
- Yuri Gagarin
- Ellen Ochoa
- John Glenn
- Valentina Tereshkova
- Neil Armstrong
- Yi So-Yeon
- Guion Bluford
- Valery Polyakov
- Eileen Collins
- Franklin Chang-Díaz
Related Content:
25 Interesting Living Wax Museum Character Ideas (You’ve probably never thought of!)
Singers/Musicians
- The Supremes
- Yo-Yo Ma
- Stevie Wonder
- Mozart
- Dolly Parton
- Ella Fitzgerald
- Marian Anderson
- Frank Sinatra
- Minnie Riperton
- Beethoven
- Elvis Presley
- Jorge Ben Jor
- The Beatles
- Luciano Pavarotti
- Olivia Newton-John
- Michael Jackson
- Shakira
- Louis Armstrong
- Aretha Franklin
- Andrea Bocelli
- Selena Quintanilla
- Jóse Feliciano
- Billy Holiday
TV Personalities
- Barbara Walters
- Alex Trebek
- Audrey Hepburn
- Betty White
- Shirley Temple
- Morgan Freeman
- Denzel Washington
- Sidney Poitier
- Lucille Ball
- Michael Landon
- Judy Garland
- Marilyn Monroe
- Elizabeth Taylor
- Mr. T
- Clint Eastwood
- Anika Rose
- Judy Garland
- Bob Saget
- Julie Andrews
- Steve Irwin
Authors
- Mary Pope Osborne
- Beverly Cleary
- Roald Dahl
- Dr. Seuss
- Judy Blume
- Mo Willems
- Jacqueline Woodson
- Kevin Henkes
- Patricia Polacco
- James Marshall
- Shel Silverstein
- Gail Gibbons
- Eric Carle
- Lois Lowry
- Peggy Parish
- Leo Lionni
- William Shakespeare
Fairy Tale Characters
- Little Red Riding Hood
- Rumpelstiltskin
- Boy Who Cried Wolf
- Gingerbread Man
- Goldilocks
- Cinderella
- Big Bad Wolf
- Fairy Godmother
- Hansel and Gretel
- Prince Charming
- Rapunzel
- Humpty Dumpty
- Sleeping Beauty
- Snow White
- Pinocchio
Athletes
- Jackie Robinson
- Cristiano Ronaldo
- Tiger Woods
- Serena Williams
- Tom Brady
- Usain Bolt
- Florence Griffith Joyner
- Michael Phelps
- Wilma Rudolph
- Pelé
- David Beckham
- Muhammad Ali
- Jackie Joyner-Kersee
- Arther Ashe
- Simone Biles
- Hank Aaron
- George Foreman
- Venus Williams
- Babe Ruth
- Lisa Leslie
- Dara Torres
- Michelle Kwan
- Lionel Messi
Famous Women
- Ada Lovelace
- Princess Diana
- Rosa Parks
- Maya Angelou
- Wangari Maathai
- Marie Curie
- Hattie McDaniel
- Frida Khalo
- Sacagawea
- Elizabeth Blackwell
- Oprah Winfrey
- Alice Ball
- Sally Ride
- Shirley Chisholm
- Coretta Scott King
- Madam CJ Walker
- Cleopatra
- Jane Goodall
- Zaha Hadid
- Julia Child
- Barbara Walters
- Malala
- Coco Chanel
- Betsy Ross
- Maya Lin
- Helen Keller
- Harriet Tubman
- Queen Elizabeth II
- Mother Teresa
- Pocahontas
Disney Characters
- Winnie
- Aladdin
- Geppetto
- Dumbo
- Cinderella
- Tinker Bell
- Simba
- Nemo
- Bambi
- Tiana
- Mickey Mouse
- Minnie Mouse
- Donald Duck
- Ariel
- Peter Pan
- Tigger
- Rapunzel
- Alice
- Prince Charming
- Grumpy or any dwarf
- Pinocchio
Political Figures
- Nelson Mandela
- Donald Trump
- Simon Bolivar
- Ronald Reagan
- César Chávez
- Abraham Lincoln
- Mahatma Gandhi
- George Washington
- Julius Caesar
- George W. Bush
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Alexander Hamilton
- Bill Clinton
- Nancy Pelosi
- Barack Obama
- Thomas Jefferson
- John F. Kennedy
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Margaret Thatcher
- Jimmy Carter
- Theodore Roosevelt
Famous Latinos
- Sandra Cisneros
- Arturo Schomburg
- Gloria Estefan
- Diego Rivera
- Gabriel García Márquez
- Isabel Allende
- Frida Khalo
- Lionel Messi
- Selena Quintanilla
- Jennifer Lopez
- Oscar De La Hoya
- Pablo Neruda
- Rita Moreno
- Robert Clemente
- Sonia Sotomayor
- Eva Perón
- Emilio Zapata
- Celia Cruz
- Lin-Manuel Miranda
Scientists/Inventors/Creators
- Henry Ford
- Marie Curie
- Mark Zuckerberg
- Alan Turing
- George Washington Carver
- Nicolaus Copernicus
- Thomas Edison
- Grace Hopper
- Albert Einstein
- Sarah Boone
- Jeff Bezos
- Isaac Newton
- Galileo Galilei
- Benjamin Franklin
- Steve Jobs
- Charles Drew
- Benjamin Banneker
- Eli Whitney
- The Wright Brothers
- Bill Gates
- Alexander Graham Bell
- Louis Pasteur
- Rachel Carson
- Charles Darwin
- Dr. Avraham Kodar
- Elijah McCoy
- Nikola Tesla
Explorers
- Lewis and Clark
- Christopher Columbus
- Ferdinand Magellan
- Vasco de Gama
- Marco Polo
- Matthew Henson
- Amerigo Vespucci
- Hernán Cortés
- Sir Francis Drake
- Sacagawea
- Daniel Boone
- Meriwether Lewis
- Richard E. Byrd
- William Clark
- Ann Bancroft
Religious Figures
This living wax museum character list would not be complete without adding religious figures. These character options are great for Christian or religion-based schools.
- Noah
- Dalai Lama
- Jesus
- The Pope
- The Three Wise Men
- Mother Theresa
- Mary/Joseph
- Joel Osteen
- Moses
- Angel
- Abraham
- T.D Jakes
Final Thoughts On Living Wax Museum Character List
Save time coming up with characters for students to portray for a wax museum project by using this helpful living wax museum character list.
Deepen students’ knowledge about important people who have had a significant impact on humanity.