One way to get the kids to focus on the task at hand is to tie a children’s book in with a fun mummy activity. Read a book about mummies to the class. “The Best Book of Mummies” by Philip Steele and “Mummies Made in Egypt” by Aliki take the informative approach. For more entertainment, read “Skippyjon Jones in Mummy Trouble” by Judy Schachner or “Mummies at the Mall” by Gail Herman. After that, pull out some rolls of toilet paper. Let the class take turns wrapping the toilet paper around your body. Once they are done, everyone will be giggling.
You can’t have a mummy and pyramid theme without discussing how the pyramids were built and what was inside them. To start this activity, explain that the pyramids are made of huge chunks of stone, and ask the kindergarteners how they think the Egyptians built the structures. The stone blocks were very heavy and too big for one person to carry. Expect some inventive guesses. Then read a book about the subject, such as “Pyramids” by Gallimard Jeunesse and Claude Delafosse or “Mummies, Pyramids, and Pharaohs: A Book About Ancient Egypt” by Gail Gibbons. After the book, pull out a bin of wooden blocks, separate the kids into groups of four or five and have them build a pyramid as a team.
Since Egyptians often painted hieroglyphics in pyramids on papyrus reed and the walls, you can incorporate a hieroglyphic activity into this pyramid theme. To introduce the topic, read a book like “Fun With Hieroglyphs” by Catharine Roehrig or “Hieroglyphs from A to Z: A Rhyming Book With Ancient Egyptian Stencils for Kids” by Peter Manuelian. The former has hieroglyphic stamps the kids can use to create messages, and the latter has some hieroglyphic stencils. You and the kids can also create your own hieroglyphic alphabet and use it to spell out their names or maybe even a secret message.
Follow the mummy teacher activity with a craft project, or do this craft by itself. Obtain enough empty toilet paper rolls so each student has one, and write each child’s name inside the toilet paper roll. You will also need construction paper, scissors, white glue and medical gauge rolls. The kids should wrap the gauge around the toilet paper roll. After that, they create and cut arms, legs and eyes from the construction paper and glue the pieces on the mummy. The kids can name their mummies, if they like.