Pyramids!: 50 Hands-On Activities to Experience Ancient Egypt (Kaleidoscope Kids Books (Williamson Publishing)) [Paperback]

Avery Hart (Author), Paul Mantell (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up | Series: Kaleidoscope Kids Books (Williamson Publishing)

This book is suitable for ages 9 to 12 years. Don't just read about it - do it! Children will become part of ancient Egypt, playing Senat (a game like draughts), dressing in a nemes (head-dress) and male kilt, eating Egyptian honey-barley flatbread, writing in hieroglyphics, dancing like an Egyptian, building a living model of the Nile valley. The book helps you discover Pyramid Power, and get to know the wonders of the pyramids by exploring King Tut's tomb, making a pyramid-building sledge, creating pyramids of cardboard, clay, blocks, cans and discovering the mysteries of the mummies, the Sphinx, and a Soul House. How old is ancient? The book helps you learn about linear timing by developing meaningful comparisons, using visualisations and creating timelines.

Editorial Reviews

Review

" ... a gold mine of ideas for teachers and a playground of Egyptian culture for kids." -- Booklist

About the Author

Avery Hart and Paul Mantell

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Williamson Publishing Company (May 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1885593104
• ISBN-13: 978-1885593108
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 9.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #307,237 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

87 of 87 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful creative ideas, June 10, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Pyramids!: 50 Hands-On Activities to Experience Ancient Egypt (Kaleidoscope Kids Books (Williamson Publishing)) (Paperback)

This book is packed with many wonderful creative ideas to help children become very involved in learning about ancient Egypt. I was really impressed. We homeschool and found this to be one of the best purchases we've made while learning about this ancient civilization. I should note that online the recommended age is 9-12. However, on the back of the book it is clearly printed for kids ages 6-12. My daughter is 7 and we found it to be age appropriate.

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dress, dance, draw, build and play like an Ancient Egyptian, March 10, 2006

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Pyramids!: 50 Hands-On Activities to Experience Ancient Egypt (Kaleidoscope Kids Books (Williamson Publishing)) (Paperback)

I freely admit that as soon as I saw the over of "Pyramids: 50 Hands-On Activities to Experience Ancient Egypt," that I immediately saw in my mind's eye teachers yoking their students to harnesses so they could drag giant stone blocks around the playground (think of the scenes from "The Ten Commandments"), or subjecting a most unruly student to mummification. Now, all of this would be wrong, very wrong indeed, so you should just stick to what Avery Hart & Paul Mantell come up with for young students to do in this Kaleidoscope Kids book.

Ancient Egypt is presented in these pages as the land where magic and mystery meet, and young students are encouraged to "Egyptianize" themselves, forgetting about things like cars and televisions to focus on what sort of objects (e.g., rope, jewelry, balls, etc.) that were a part of the life of people living in ancient Egypt. You can play Egyptian-Style Tug 'o War, make your own scarab (so you can honor the beetle), and make up your own spell having being inspired by the ancient spell for a stomach bug. You can even make a pull horse toy or Egyptian lady (or goddess doll). Consequently, by the time you finish the opening section where you learn that kids are still kids, even when separated by thousands of miles and thousands of years, teaches and students alike will find these activities to be fun.

Granted, a class is not going to get to do four dozen activities for a unit on Ancient Egypt, but teaches can certainly pick and choose. Besides, some of these activities, such as making a Time Line, can be done for any culture or period being studied. Some, such as making a miniature Egypt or a reed boat, are pretty specific. No surprise here, but the section on Pyramids has some of the most interesting activities, such as making a sledge, to understand how they moved around those giant stones, creating a little clay or cardboard pyramid, a pop-up pyramid with a pop-out pharaoh, or actually making a Lego or block step-pyramid. I also like the instructions on how to "Draw Like an Ancient Egyptians" (are the Bangles still in vogue with elementary school kids?).

Actually, I think you can easily work in a dozen of these projects in the classroom, perhaps having different students do different activities. While some are making a cartouche, others can be making a Soul House model or an amulet. Students might be impressed if the teacher shows up wearing the White Crown of Upper Egypt one day, the Red Crown of Lower Egypt the next (with a Silver Cobra added on), and then a Nemes. You can also throw an Ancient Egyptian Costume Party and play Senat, an ancient board game, not to mention dance like an Egyptian. Certainly teachers looking for activities that are both fun and educational will find several to their liking n this book and the others in this series. The bottom line is that I wish we had books like this when I was in grade school.

42 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What an asset, April 10, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Pyramids! 50 Hands-On Activities To Experience Ancient Egypt (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) (Kaleidoscope Kids Books (Tandem Library)) (School & Library Binding)

THis book is jam-packed with great activites and information. I have went through it numerous times and found new things everytime I pick it up. The activities are not difficult and do not require alot of expense to create. I really enjoyed the animation and colored type. It is nice to look through a book that is made appealing and is well illustrated.