Level 1: Ancient Egypt Unit Study

• DK Eyewitness Books: Ancient Egypt: Explore the Nile Valley Civilizations from Colossal Temples by George Hart (Or you can use any other book your library has about ancient Egypt as a resource this week. You can use this as a reference to introduce the topics discussed in the videos we have linked without actually sharing the videos if you are a screen-free family.)
• National Geographic Kids Readers: Ancient Egypt by Stephanie Warren Drimmer
• (+) How the Sphinx Got to the Museum by Jessie Hartland

Let’s learn more about the Nile River! (If you were with us for our Rivers, Lakes + Ponds Unit, this is a good time to review what makes a river a river!) Next, let’s make our own model of the Nile River and its delta.

(+) Have a child who loves to bake? Try this baked Nile instead!

The river supported not only agricultural life in ancient Egypt, but also provided fish for the Egyptians to eat. Today, let’s break out our fishing activity from the Rivers, Lakes + Ponds Unit and pretend we’re doing some “river” fishing. If you weren’t with us for that unit, here is how to set up this fun, play-based literacy activity.

Remember to modify the activity to meet your child at their level. Here are a few ways you can use it:

• lower and capital letter match
• letter sound match
• frequently used words recognition
• finding their name
• identifying letter combination sounds, for example ch, sh, th, wh, sl, st, etc.
• vowels vs consonants

Note for grownups: Don’t use this activity to “test” their knowledge but instead to reinforce what they are currently working on. Try these types of questions and responses to keep the game positive and engaging:

• Can we fish for the word “stop”?
• If your child fishes and finds the word “stop,” reply, “You found it!”
• If not, say: “You found the word ‘go’! Great job fishing for the word ‘go.’ Now let’s fish for the word ‘stop.’”

(-) To make the activity simpler, use a shorter string on your “fishing rod.”

Watch this video for a brief description of pyramids and mummies. One of the most famous places in Egypt is the pyramids of Giza. Look at the pictures in our book We’re Sailing Down the Nile to see what the pyramids look like. Your child might also enjoy looking at these photos of the pyramids today. Now, let’s build our own pyramid using sugar cubes or LEGOs. (If your child enjoys Minecraft, they could also build a pyramid there.)

Begin by reading the section about mummies in the Hieroglyphs book.

Next, lets do some STEM with a mummy apples experiment. This apple mummy activity is a great way to observe how Ancient Egyptians preserved their dead through mummification. We will compare and contrast different desiccants (a substance used as a drying agent) and methods to preserve bodies and remove moisture from objects.

Experiment Questions: The Egyptians wrapped their dead in linen cloth. We will wrap apples in gauze and add specific ingredients to see which ones will preserve the apples best. Ask your student the following questions: Which apple will be preserved best? With gauze or without? Which ingredient will preserve the apples the best?

You will need:

• 1 apple
• 7 clear plastic cups (or plastic baggies)
• gauze
• baking soda
• salt
• sugar

What to do:

1. Cut up your apples so that you end up with 7 pieces. Label each cup (or bag) with the following labels: Salt, sugar, baking soda, salt with gauze, sugar with gauze, baking soda with gauze, and control.
2. Separate ingredients into bowls to make apple dipping easier for your child.
3. Prepare your apples. Dip one apple piece at a time into the prepared ingredient bowl and placed in the corresponding labeled cup or bag. Repeat the process again and then wrap your apples with gauze and place them into your labeled cups or bags.
4. Place one apple without any ingredients added into your control cup or bag. A control group is the group that doesn’t receive any treatment or change. Why is a control important in an experiment? The control group is important because it acts as a benchmark to compare the results of the experiment to.
5. Print this sheet to make predictions and record your findings.

Encourage your child to do all the gauze cutting (great fine motor skills practice!).

After a week, come back to your mummy apples and record your findings. Did the apple in salt and wrapped in gauze preserve the best? Good! Ours did, too. The Egyptians were on to something when they preserved the bodies in this way!

Modifications: If working with a co-op, instead of using plastic cups, use zip-lock baggies for easy transport home.

The cartouche was an oval-shaped name plate that was placed in the tomb of ancient Egyptians so they could be identified. (source) Let’s make our own cartouche by making your name in hieroglyphs in playdough or modeling clay for this craft. (Note: To actually wear it as a necklace, the air-dry clay works best.)

Make your own papyrus. 

Music was a big part of ancient Egyptian life. We don’t know exactly what the music sounded like since they didn’t leave behind music notes, but we do have lots of pictures of people playing instruments. Music was also was very important in their religious ceremonies. (source) The people played folk music and even love songs, and if there is music, there is usually dancing. Click here to see wall pictures of ancient people singing, dancing, and playing musical instruments. Take a look at this link to see the instruments they played.

Make a collar necklace out of a paper plate.

1. Create an opening in the paper plate so that it can be worn comfortably around your child’s neck.
2. Paint your Egyptian collar using gold acrylic paint. Allow to dry.
3. Decorate your Egyptian collar using rhinestones, hieroglyphics, or other symbols.
4. Use a pipe cleaner to create a necklace clasp to secure the necklace when worn.

Egyptian cuff.

Pharaoh’s headdress. Color and attach the pieces of the headdress. Cut out a strip of construction paper long enough to go around your child’s head. Glue one end onto the excess strip on the headdress. Glue the other end of the strip on the opposite side of the headdress to create a band that fits snugly around your head. Try it on!

Gold slime.

Using your ancient Egypt figurines to create a sand play station. You will also need to print and cut out these printable cards and this Safari TOOB key. Hide the figurines in the sand. Giving your child paint brushes and spoons and have them dig for the pieces. As they find them, identify the pieces by name and have them match them to the key sheet. Share a fact from the printable card with them about that object. We have also included additional cards about some of the more prominent Egyptian gods and goddesses.

Let’s pretend we were visiting a museum today to learn about another Egyptian god. The Metropolitan Museum of Art features hundreds of ancient Egyptian artifacts. Let’s look at this special artifact of a cat statue. Review some of the interesting facts about the rolls cats played in ancient Egypt, then scroll down to the bottom of the page to listen to an audio description while you look at the picture. Next, let’s make this craft of a cat statue like the ones ancient Egyptians might have had in their homes, temples, and tombs.

The pharaoh (of king) of Egypt was also considered a god. One of the most famous pharaohs of Egypt was Tutankhamun. Start by reading this to learn a bit about him. Older kids might enjoy this video, too. The pyramids we learned about earlier this week were actually tombs where Egyptian kings and queens were buried when they died. The bodies were put into a special coffin called a sarcophagus. Before the bodies were buried, they were cleaned, perfumed, and wrapped with special bandages to preserve them. This process is called mummification. In today’s craft, we will bring this ancient custom come to life. (No pun intended!)

Start by building the sarcophagus craft. This will be about 5 inches long when you complete it.

Next make your mummy. You can either use a doll that is less than 5 inches long (be sure to wrap it in plastic wrap first if it’s something your child will want to play with again later), or you can cut out a body shape from cardstock or create a pipe cleaner (body). Next, follow this tutorial to bandage it up. Once the mummy is dry, place it inside your sarcophagus to complete the activity.

Tomorrow is your dig! Be sure to complete these tasks by tonight so you’ll be ready for the fun. (Note: If a dig is beyond your child’s abilities this year, save the pot for the modified activity in tomorrow’s lesson and see our modified sand sensory bin suggestion as well.)

First, take a terracotta pot and draw symbols on it using your stencil book. Next, smash the pot into several pieces. (Don’t make them too small—you will try to piece it back together after they find all the pieces.) Place the pieces into your prepared dig area. (You can also include the figurines from the previous lessons in your dig.) There are two different ways to approach the dig depending on your location and their interest level: in the ground or in a container. If you are unable to do an actual dig, try this virtual dig game instead.

Now let’s do our own dig! Bring your child to your prepared dig area. Begin by gridding and labeling the dig area as shown in the tutorial you chose. Give your child tools, such as shovels or large spoons, paint brushes, and a kitchen sieve. Be sure to use your new vocabulary that applies to the activity like “archaeologist,” “excavation,” “artifacts,” and “grid.” Dig up one square at a time as you look for treasures!

(-) Is a dig beyond your child’s focus and abilities right now? Don’t worry! Instead of a dig, use this as an opportunity to create another sand sensory bin. You can either repeat the figurines activity from earlier this week, or let it be more of a free play activity.

(+) Want to upgrade this activity? Keep records of your dig by drawing a grid on a paper and labeling it like you have labeled your dig area. Record what items were found in each square.

Once you have completed your dig, collect all the artifacts your child found. Glue together the terracotta pot back together and talk about the symbols that are drawn on it. Discuss what they meant. Your child may even want to invent a story about what this pot may have been used for!

(-) If you didn’t do the dig, let your child paint the pot, either using the stencils or with their own “hieroglyphs.”

Don’t forget to check your mummified apples! Discuss which preservative method worked best and which one worked worst. Was it what you predicted?

Most museums around the country have some kind of ancient Egypt display. Check your local museum, and plan a trip this weekend!