This lesson got a bit out of hand

We read a lesson this week about how the Egyptians made mummies.  I was only planning on reading a bit to them and doing an activity this coming week about mummies.  The kids were so interested in what I read that they wanted to do something mummy related right then.  So, we stopped what we were doing and did this instead:

Leah and Noah wanted to turn some of their dolls into mummies.  Leah gathered the necessary spices to properly preserve the bodies.  (Our basement smelled like garlic all day)  Leah carefully wrapped her deceased Polly Pocket doll in linen (toilet paper) strips.  Then she put all the spices on it.  She forgot that the spices were supposed to come first, but I don't think it really matters when it comes to a plastic doll.

Noah wanted to mummify a Lego creation.  He included Lego jewels that the Lego guy can take with him to the afterlife.  Both mummies were entombed in shoe boxes.  I think one of them was even buried in the back yard.

Now, why should we let toys have all the fun?  Why can't my kids be made into mummies too?  Well, they can.  It took a lot of toilet paper, but they all got the chance.

Eli

Noah

Naomi, cutest mummy ever

Leah

I like writing in pictures

This week, we learned about how ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians used to write.  We tried our hands at cuneiform and hieroglyphics. 

Can you read what we wrote on our clay tablets?

Translation

Top Left: Eli's is just the letter E in both hieroglyphics and cuneiform. It's turned sideways.
Bottom Left: Noah wrote his name in hieroglyphics
Top Right: I wrote "I love my family" in cuneiform
Bottom Right: Leah wrote in hieroglyphics "Leah's Room"

Everything else on the try was created after, just for fun.

Leah has a scaly thumb

I know green thumbs are for good gardeners.  But what kind of thumb does a good fisherman have?  Whatever it is, Leah has it!  For school last week, we went fishing with Papa (my father-in-law, Doug).  We learned lots as we spent the morning up American Fork Canyon.

Lesson #1: Leah is a good fishergirl!  She caught 3 fish very easily.  She's actually the only one that caught any fish all the way.  I also caught 3 fish, but they all got off the hook before I could do anything but scream with excitement.

Lesson #2: Naomi has no feeling in her legs or feet.  She waded around in that little, very cold, stream right there and didn't care at all.  She was wet the entire morning and never complained about it once.

Lesson #3: Eli has the best attitude.  He didn't catch anything all day.  But that didn't seem to bother him.  He was just happy to be outside, fishing with his Papa.

Lesson #4: Noah just likes to be on a good team.  He didn't catch any fish either, but he figured he did because he said he was on my team.  I know I said before that I didn't catch any fish, but that's really just relative.  We calculated that each fish I reeled in counted for 1/2 a fish.  So, the way Noah saw it, we caught 1 1/2 fish.  And that's pretty good!

Lesson #5: My kids are crazy!  But they're also fun.  And I'm pretty sure I knew that already.