This activity can be done by the children in small groups, or as a whole class gathered together, creating simple pyramid structures using sugar cubes as the building blocks. Begin by laying a foundation, using an equal number of cubes laid horizontally and vertically, creating a square shape. On top of the foundation, build another layer of exactly one fewer cube deep and one fewer cube wide. Continue to build each layer reducing the number of cubes in the same manner until you have a final cube at the top of the pyramid. Share stories of the building of the ancient pyramids with the students.
Talk with the children about the mummification process used by the ancient Egyptians. Demonstrate this process to them using a doll or action figure such as a Barbie doll. Show the children how the dead would have been wrapped by wrapping the doll with toilet paper. Once you have a layer of toilet paper wrapped around the doll, spray the doll with a light misting of water. Smooth the toilet paper and press it firmly around the doll. Let this layer dry and then add another layer of toilet paper. Keep repeating the process, adding layers until you cannot see the doll through the toilet paper. While you're waiting for each layer to dry, answer the children's questions about why and how the Egyptians mummified their dead.
Give each child a stack of blank paper and markers or crayons. Using a large white or black board at the front of the room, draw, one at a time, some of the simplest Egyptian hieroglyphs on the board. Have the children copy them. Place the corresponding letter from our alphabet next to each hieroglyphic image. Help the children use their sheets of paper with the individual hieroglyphs to create simple words and sentences. Discuss with the children some of the places ancient Egyptians wrote their hieroglyphics.
Use an old sheet to create an Egyptian costume by folding it in half and cutting a hole in the center for the child's head to pop through. Trim the excess off the bottom. Add a headband, bracelets and a wesekh or Egyptian collar. Use inexpensive gold arm bands and bangles from the dime store for the bracelets. Have each child decorate a band of construction paper with markers and glitter glue for her headband. Punch holes in each end of the headband and attach a piece of yarn to each hole. Use the yarn to tie the headband on the child's head. For the wesekh, cut wedge shapes out of construction paper and let the children be guided by their imaginations as to how they decorate the collars using markers or crayons. Punch holes and add yarn as with the headbands. Tie each child's wesekh around his neck over his costume base.