Pyramid posters and papyrus sheets for sale at workshops

 

Preparing for the Pharaohs Workshop

Permission Slip for make-up & perfume

Follow-up Lesson Ideas

 

Photos from workshops:

Moss Hey    Thorp Primary

Glazebury Primary (papyrus paintings)

St. Agnes CE Primary    St. Catherine's

 

Background information:  The Gods   Pharaohs Hieroglyphs  Pyramids  Artefacts   Clothing, Make-up etc.

 

 

 

Reviews

 'The children had a great time and learnt a lot' (click for more reviews)

Letters from children at Bleak Hill Primary, St. Helens

 

The Wonders of Egypt

There is nowhere on earth like Egypt. For thousands of years tourists have been astounded by its beautiful temples and tombs, its vast pyramids and its golden treasures.

This workshop focuses on what the ancient Egyptians cherished most - their pharaohs and their gods. Most of the amazing sights in Egypt are in some way related to these two. Pyramids were giant rock tombs designed to send the pharaoh up to heaven, and temples were sites of worship for gods, adorned with hieroglyphs proclaiming the greatness of the god and of the pharaoh who built his house.

 

The Egyptian pyramids were built over 4,000 years ago and over the centuries have inspired as much puzzlement as awe. Why were they built? How could a society with such primitive technology - no iron, no wheels, only stone, wood and copper tools - create monuments which are not only enormous but extremely accurate? The Great Pyramid is the most famous, with over 2 million blocks of limestone, each weighing around 2.5 tonnes, and fitted so well together you can't get a piece of paper between them. Not only that, the greatest difference in length between the four sides (each about 230m) is about 4cm, and the base is level to within 2cm!

 

My Egyptian workshop has been very popular since 2004, for several reasons: the enthusiasm and depth of knowledge which I bring to the day, the in-depth tuition on the intricacies of hieroglyphs, art and other aspects of Egyptian culture, the high quality resources and creative activities which children love, and which provide a rich learning experience about ancient Egypt as well as teaching art skills, and the fantastic outcomes which you can display in the classroom.

Detailed lesson plans are provided on this page.

To book, contact:

Tony North

tnorth67@hotmail.com

0161 224 6445/07754 406422

Literacy link: for an excellent retelling of Egyptian myths and stories, see Stories from Ancient Egypt by well-known Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley.

 

  

 

Me (Tony North) teaching

how to read hieroglyphs

 

 

Tutankhamun's scarab pectoral, photo shown in lesson

 

 

Copy of scarab pectoral shown in the afternoon

 

 

 

Shabti (servant statue)

shown in artefacts session

 

 

 

Tutankhamun's gold dagger, made by a y4 child

 

 

 

papyrus painting of Osiris by Y4 child

 

 

 

 

  

Option 1 - the Gods: Game, Hieroglyphs and Dress-up

1. Introduction to gods (30-45 mins)

Gods: look at paintings of 8 gods (Anubis, Osiris, Isis, Horus, Hathor, Thoth, Ra, Amun). They learn the gods' names, what they look like, and what they were god of: e.g. Osiris is shown wrapped up as a mummy because he was the ruler of the afterlife, and holding a crook and flail because he was god of farming.

Papyrus painting of Osiris

 

Next we play a name the god game, looking at 20 photos of gods (paintings or statues) on the interactive whiteboard. Each child takes part using a whiteboard and pen. The children with the highest score get a prize - a poster of the pyramids.

2. Hieroglyphs (60-90 minutes)

Children learn about hieroglyphs, by writing them on a worksheet (see below) and on a piece of real papyrus. They also play reading games, with more papyrus bookmarks for prizes.

 

Letters - 22 letter hieroglyphs are copied. Children learn that they stand for sounds, which affects how they should write their own names. A game follows in which children read the name of pharaohs (Khufu and Cleopatra) spelled in letters. They will then learn how to write their own names in hieroglyphs.

Words - up to 20 words are copied, including words such as god, king, and lord, as well as words which are parts of pharaohs' names (e.g. ankh in Tutankhamun). A game follows in which children translate hieroglyphs (this section may be omitted if time is short)

Gods' names - children copy the names of 8 gods. A game follows in which photos of hieroglyphs (from tomb or temple walls) are shown on the whiteboard and children have to spot them, with more papyrus bookmark prizes.

Picture used in the reading games

 

Write on papyrus - children get a piece of real papyrus paper (6x15cm) and write any hieroglyphs they like (e.g. a pharaoh's name, god's name, their own name). They use a black ink pen, because the Egyptian used black ink.

Year 4 child writing on papyrus paper

 

3. Clothing (15 mins)

One boy and one girl will be chosen to dress up as Egyptians, with linen clothes (a dress for the girl and a kilt for the boy), plaited wigs, jewellery (bracelets and necklaces, including a replica of a princess's collar with over 1,000 beads), eyeliner, and lipstick and blush for the girl. A permission slip will be provided for children to wear the make up.

The children can also try frankincense perfume (unless they have skin allergies or a nut allergy).

My wife Catherine modelling the clothes, wig and jewellery

 

Horus statue painted by y4 child

 

Tutankhamun's mask by Y5 child

 

 

Scarab Beetle by Y4 child

 

 

 

 

 

Option 2 - Pyramids

1. Learn about pyramids (30 mins)

 

 

 

 

We will look at some pictures of pyramids, the pharaohs who were buried in them, and other images to help children understand what pyramids are, why they were built, and how they were constructed.

2. Experimental archaeology: Three pyramid building activities (90 minutes)

This activity is a fantastic way for children to get a concrete understanding of pyramid building and the difficulties faced by the Egyptians in making these enormous monuments. Archaeologists often find the best way to understand how people of the past did something is to try it themselves. Children will learn from experience in a similar way, using models. They will think about the results of experiments to make conclusions, which we will discuss as a class at the end.

Children are divided into 9 groups and work in rotation on 3 activities (with 3 small groups on each activity at one time). These are:

• Surveying: using replicas of 3 ancient Egyptian surveying tools (plumb line, level, and set square), children examine surfaces in the classroom to see if they are vertical, horizontal, or right angles. They think about how these tools might have been used to make the pyramid blocks.



• Making pyramids from card. There are two options. The easier one is to make pyramids from card nets. Children are taught how to cut, fold and glue a card shape to make a replica of the Great Pyramid.

  The more difficult option is to make the pyramid from corrugated card (this gives more of a feel for the look of the pyramids). Children draw round a template and cut out the four sides of the pyramid, then sellotape the sides together.

  With both options the pyramid is glued onto a card base and the base is painted to look like sand.

 

• Building with blocks: children build their own pyramid from wooden blocks, to try out methods of stacking, and to see how specially shaped casing stones were needed (and what the types of casing stones are), in order to create the original, smooth look of the pyramids.

  

At the end we discuss what children learned about the pyramids from doing these three activities.

 

 

Option 3 - Tutankhamun and other pharaohs

 

Tutankhamun's gold coffin

 

1. Learn about Tutankhamun (15 mins)

 

Look at photos of Tutankhamun's tomb, treasures, and the boy king himself. Why is he so famous?

 

2. Look at artefacts (15 mins)

 

Children see a variety of artefacts relating to Tutankhamun and other pharaohs. The artefacts are copies, most of which I made myself. You can see photos of them on this page and here. This activity teaches children about the items and their meanings, and will inspire them to create their own works of art.

 

Artefacts include: statuettes (Anubis, a pharaoh, sphinx, scarab beetle, shabti, Tut's coffin, Tut's mask), Tut's scarab pectoral, a pharaoh's bracelet (see below), Tut's dagger, and a relief of a pharaoh and Ra.

 

 

3. Make Egyptian Artefacts (90 minutes)

 

 

 

I will give a short lesson on how to paint accurately with acrylic paint (e.g. dry brush after washing it, correct mistakes, keep hand steady by resting it on the table, only touch with the tip of the brush).

  

Then children will make an artefact, mostly painting items with acrylic paint. These include statues of gods and pharaohs, papyrus paintings of gods, a pharaoh's gold bracelet, and Tutankhamun's beautiful gold dagger.

 

If you book a workshop I will email a letter to let you know what resources we need (basic things like paint palettes, pots for water, table covers, painting shirts, and paper towels).

 

The method and materials have been carefully designed so that children can make a replica of high quality and durability.

 

 

Tutankhamun's gold dagger, made by a y4 child