Egyptian Pyramid Replicas

We are trying to do one fun, crafty project per term that goes along with any topic that we have studied.  The children chose Egypt and the pyramids.  I found this on a blog somewhere called affectioknit, I think?  Anyway, tweak it to meet your needs. This is how our project turned out.

Step 1:
  We just did a little math, to make sure everything was going to be even and then traced, cut, and folded.

Step 2: Next we folded the cardboard and used masking tape to connect all sides.

 
Step 3:

 Using yarn, we glued it around the pyramids. (I let my toddler 'paint' the glue all over the pyramids--that was FUN for him). When the project is finished the yarn helps it look like 'bricks'.

Step 4: Paper Mache...let it dry for a couple of days or longer, unless you live in Thailand, then it will be finished in approx. 24 hours or less :)

**While doing paper mache, be sure to leave two of the sides uncovered where you can easily cut the yarn in order to OPEN your pyramid. 

Step 5:  We painted them brown, let it dry,  painted glue on again, then poured sand all over them.  I think you could probably skip the 'paint them brown' part.

Step 6:  Find a sturdy piece of cardboard to use as your base.  The one I chose was very thin and the pyramids ended up to heavy, especially once you add the tomb on the inside. If you mix a glue with blue food coloring, when the river dries it is shiny and 'fun' looking. We made a couple of boats out of grass to float in the river. 

(Please excuse my sweet potatoes ;)

Step 7: We made salt dough, cut them into triangles to fit inside the pyramids.  They then constructed a burial chamber, the air shafts, the treasure compartment.  You can get as detailed as you want, even down to labeling everything.  We chose NOT to label, mainly because we had already spent 3 weeks working on the project and it was Thanksgiving week, time to bake!

This is the inside of M's pyramid.  I forgot to mention that we looked up their names in hieroglyphics and added that to the inside.  This was by far their favorite part of the project.  Getting to paint everything, wrap the 'body' and just finishing it. 

It was a fun project, a little messy.  I recommend doing it all outside and be sure to have a sturdy base.  Oh, yea, we added capstones as well.  We rigged a pulley system with twine and brass brads in order to open and close the pyramid.  Just play with it and figure out what works best for you. 

Happy Building!
Sandy



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