Hands-on Activities for Ancient Egypt

by Jimmie

Encourage a fascination of history with gifts and toys that explore the culture and mythology of Ancient Egypt. Use these products to add a hands-on element to your unit study.

A homeschool unit study of ancient Egypt can be greatly enhanced with the addition of hands-on projects and toys. Young children are very concrete; therefore, using their physical senses to experience what they learn makes the lessons more comprehensible. So besides reading great books about ancient Egypt, add some fun, hands-on games. 

Ancient Egyptian Action Figures

Recreate Historical Scenes with Toys

The history and mythology of ancient Egypt transfers over into play time with the toys seen here. Why promote the commercialism of Disney and other mass media? Instead, instill a love of history with toys that reinforce what you are learning in your homeschool lessons.

The toys can also be used during lessons to illustrate points. Or children can use them to re-enact the stories in the books you read. In this way, the action figures become a concrete way for children to narrate back their homeschool lessons. Using physical objects to help with the narration helps children who are still developing the skill of narration. Plus, it helps to keep the different characters and locations straight. Some children like to act out what is being read to them as it is being read. Then they can do it again, retelling the story themselves.

Children can create elaborate or simple playscapes, using the figures above. They can also construct dioramas to show daily life in ancient Egypt, depict stories from Egyptian mythology, or explain something from Egyptian history.

Toys and Playsets

With an Ancient Egypt Theme
Safari LTD Ancient Egypt Toob
$14.44  $6.0
Playmobil Pharaoh's Temple
Playmobil Egyptian Family
Only $59.77

Extra Hands-on Activities for Learning About Ancient Egypt

Fun Projects
Egyptian Art - Osiride
Ad AllPosters

Ancient Egypt Paper Crafts

Stamps and Stencils
Using Hieroglyph Stamps to Decorate an Ancient Egypt Lapbook
Using Hieroglyph Stamps to Decorate an Ancient Egypt Lapbook

Stamps and Stencils

Experiment With Egyptian Hieroglyphs
Fun with Egyptian Symbols Stencils (Dover Stencils)

6 symbols with an ancient past: the scarab beetle, cobra goddess Renenutet, falcon god Horu; vulture goddess Nekhbet, the Eye of Horus, and Amun, "the king of gods," depicted ...

$3.5  $2.5
Fun with Hieroglyphs

Discover the secrets of hieroglyphs, the language of the ancient Egyptians, with this innovative kit from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Learn the sounds and letters of the ...

$22.23  $7.26
Fun with Egyptian Stencils (Dover Stencils)

6 stencils, including Egyptian mummy case, the jackal-headed god Anubis, the ankh, a hawk, and a lotus blossom.

$1.99  $0.96

Easy Papercrafts with Stencils and Stamps

One of the simplest and least expensive types of hands-on activity to do along with a study of ancient Egypt is to make cartouches or hieroglyph banners. Use the stencils or stamps here to "write" your own messages or decorate the walls.

Use this Egyptian hieroglyph alphabet to help you spell out a message. A fun activity would be to create a message and then test others in the family to see if they can solve it from the hieroglyph code.

Using brown paper makes your papercraft look more authentic. Open a brown paper bag from the grocer (yes, you will need to specially ask for one) and use it as the base for your stone "wall" of an Egyptian temple. Or purchase a roll of or sheets of kraft paper from the art supply store.

Ancient Egypt Costumes

Dress up Play for Boys and Girls
Pharaoh Child Costume Child (Small (6))
Only $39.99
Cleopatra Costume Girl - Child Large

Imagine Yourself in Ancient Egypt

Dress Up as an Egyptian

Dress up play is an important part of a child's development. Add some Egyptian costumes to the dress up box with these two adorable costumes -- a pharaoh and an Egyptian princess.

Imagine laying out your child's clothes for the day -- a Egyptian costume -- when it's time to study ancient Egypt! What a fun way to build motivation for a new unit. Then your little Pharaoh or Cleopatra can narrate the lessons in style.

More Hands-on Games and Fun

For Learning
Learn about the fifty states of the United States with these fun and educational games and hands-on activities.
There are board and card games that develop language arts skills while providing family fun. Stock your homeschol game closet with a game to exercise the verbal part of the brain.
Creating imaginative stories is not just fun, it's a great way to develop literacy skills in young children. Use these aids to help you and your children make up stories.
Updated: 02/24/2012, Jimmie
 
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Marie on 01/23/2012

My daughter and I get a lot of fun from crafting with stamps and stencils - I love the hieroglyph banner and alphabet idea.

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