For approximately 3,500 years the ancient Egyptians used hieroglyphics to write their language. Most common Egyptians could only read and write their own names. Sixth-graders can translate their names using hieroglyphics like the ordinary people of ancient Egypt. Provide charts that correlate the hieroglyphics to the English alphabet. For example, the letter "A" is the vulture symbol, while the letter "S" is the folded cloth symbol that looks like a flag. Once the students draw out their names, they can try to write letters to friends and families using hieroglyphics.
With a slab of clay, children can carve out hieroglyphic words like real Egyptian reliefs, which are sculptures that are raised up like the design on a coin. Many reliefs were used by priests, who were also scribes, to explain the religious rituals on the walls of the temples. This activity teaches students about subtractive art, which is the technique of carving out materials, and the role of priests in Egyptian religion. Roll a large piece of air-dry clay with a rolling pin until it is 1 inch thick. Cut out a piece that is approximately 10 inches by 10 inches. Have the children utilize a clay needle tool or the tip of a plastic knife to draw hieroglyphics and carve away the area around each hieroglyphic. Interior areas of the hieroglyphics can be carved away afterward.
Teach students about Egyptian hieroglyphic numbers with a quilt project. Each child chooses a number to translate into hieroglyphics and draws it onto paper to create a pattern. The pattern is pinned and cut out of felt. The children sew the felted hieroglyphic numbers onto 12-inch square pieces of muslin. Once all the students have completed sewing their felt onto muslin, pin each muslin piece together to form a quilt. Sew the all the pieces together to a large piece of fabric with cotton batting in between. Afterward, each child can demonstrate to the class his hieroglyphic number and how it is formed.
Students learn about Egyptian funerary rituals and afterlife beliefs with a mummy case activity. Royalty had elaborate tombs to house their remains, covered with hieroglyphics about the deceased and spells to gain entrance into the afterlife. Scribes wrote out the hieroglyphics for the craftsmen and did the final checking to be sure they were written correctly. After studying real Egyptian mummy cases, students can form their own from air-dry clay cases with detailed heads and other embellishments. Once the cases are dry, provide acrylic paint to decorate them. Students choose which hieroglyphics to write on the cases and paint them with fine-artist paintbrushes. Display the cases in a school trophy case upon completion.