The whole of Lower Key Stage 2 worked together today to complete a full mummification, including making a sarcophagus, a death mask, Canopic jars, amulets, and all the organs to pull out of the mummy! In groups of 7 or 8, the children had to plan and delegate sub teams to focus on certain aspects of the mummification. They showed resilience and excellent teamwork in a day of hands on DT activities.
With Miss Boyd, the children focused on making all of the body parts that the Ancient Egyptians would have taken out of the body alongside the heart which used to be kept inside the body during the mummification process. We used skills such as weaving using wool and a loom board, modelling using clay and developed our creativity by crafting to make the intestines, stomach, lungs, heart and the liver.
Then, the children delved into the mummification process which would usually take around 70 days! Within one hour, the children washed the corpse, rubbed it in salt and began to wrap the organs and the body ready to be put into the sarcophagus just as the Ancient Egyptians would! We followed a step by step process and the children showed great resilience and teamwork.
Throughout the day, children were exposed to the specific vocabulary associated with what they were doing. For example, the Canopic jar names, the proper name for the type of salt that was used in the mummification process (Natron salt) and the names of their Gods, like Anubis – the god of death, mummification, embalming, the afterlife, cemeteries, tombs, and the Underworld.
At the end of the day, each group had created and undertaken all of the elements that would have taken 70 days in the Ancient Egyptian period, all jam packed into one day!
Tinshill Drive
Cookridge
Leeds
West Yorkshire
LS16 7DH
0113 386 2500
