We chose Egypt as our theme this week because on November 4, 1922 Howard Carter discovered the entrance to the tomb of Tutankhamen and we thought it would be fun to learn a little more about the country of Egypt both today and long ago!
We splurged a little with our sensory group and bought the Egyptian TOOB from Amazon and really added a lot to our sensory boxes. The fine motor groups worked on their cutting skills and the language group made a yummy Egyptian treat.
SENSORY GROUP
We used paper shred as our “papyrus” base for this box. There were a lot of different items representing both ancient and modern Egypt. From our Amazon order there were lots of Egyptian gods figures, busts of pharaohs, and of course—–a sarcophagus with King Tut!
We included “lotus” petals, palm trees, a hippo (they were considered bad omens), and a giraffe (ancient Egyptians used their tails as fly swatters!). In addition to all the ancient Egyptian items we included some modern “kids” and the word HOME—-to a population of approximately 82 million people! Finally there was a little oil holder that Joy’s aunt brought back on her Egyptian vacation—-pretty cool!
Recognize differences between cultures is a social studies access point that can be addressed here.
King Tut wore a pretty amazing blue and gold headdress. We put some shiny beads with those colors in this box and it turned out to be very eye catching. Needless to say, the students had a lot of fun with this box 🙂
Match objects by one observable property, such as size or color is a science access point.
There are over 100 pyramids in Egypt and tourists come from all over the world to visit them. In addition to the pyramids and sphinx we included a couple of camels to trek around the desert. Underneath the sand there was a picture of the current Egyptian flag to discover.
Recognize an achievement of civilization, such as art, architecture, writing, or technology is a social studies access point.
If you are doing a unit on Egypt you HAVE to include a mummy box! There were a bunch of gauze strips to wrap around a small doll. In our research we learned that the ancient Egyptians also mummified cats so we included a little plush kitty to mummify.
The science access point recognize that the appearance of an object or material has changed can be addressed with this activity.
Pomegranate seeds were a favorite treat for ancient Egyptians and still are for modern ones. We didn’t have any dried pomegranate seeds but we thought these red beans made a pretty good stand in. There were 3 letter “E”s to find, as well as a couple of “scarab” beetles.
Match objects by an observable property, such as size, shape, and color is a science access point.
Our messy play shaving cream reminded us of marshmallows—-we can thank the ancient Egyptians for that tasty treat! We printed out the hieroglyphic alphabet to let students try imitating some of the letters.
Most of them were way too hard for our students to duplicate but the semi circle symbol for “T” was a great one to practice.
Recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move is a science access point.
Hands were rinsed in our Nile River basin complete with a crocodile! We used strawberry scented Valuetime bubble bath in our water because we learned that strawberry juice is a favorite drink for thirsty Egyptian children.
Match common living things with their habitats is a science access point.
Mango juice is another popular drink found in the refrigerator of Egyptian homes so we finished our group with mango scented lotion. It had a very yummy aroma and our students really enjoyed the scent as we rubbed it on their hands and arms. There were lots of requests for “more”!
Indicate a desire for more of an action or object is a math access point.
FINE MOTOR GROUP
On Tuesday we made an ancient Egyptian headdress. Prior to the group the base was cutout of a yellow paper plates (found at Family Dollar store). We just cut across the bottom and then cut a square piece out of the middle. The top piece was cut from the scrap and glued to the top.
First we discussed the color of our plates and asked the students to identify the color yellow using communication symbols.
Identify objects by one observable property, such as color is a science access point.
Then the students cut strips of blue paper using the adaptive scissors.
Recognize a change in an object is a science access point.
We prompted the students to glue 2 of the blue strips on one side of the head dress, and 2 on the other side.
Solve simple problems involving joining or separating sets of objects  is a math access point.
 TA DA—-time to walk like an Egyptian 🙂
On Wednesday we made an Egyptian pyramid scene for our art project.
We started by discussing the shape of our paper and then counted it’s sides. We also asked the students to identify the color using communication symbols.
Recognize an object with a 2 dimensional shape is a math access point. Identify objects by one observable property, such as color, is a science access point.
Then we tore 1 piece of yellow paper into 2 pieces—-great for working on bilateral coordination! These were glued down onto the blue paper to make the “sand” for our scene.
Recognize a movement that reflects a spatial relationship, such as up and down is a math access point.
Next we used a paper cutter to cut the 3 sides of a triangle and glued our “pyramid” onto the sand. Of course, we counted aloud as we cut each side.
The math access point recognize common objects with 2 dimensional shapes is again addressed here.
Associate quantities with number names is a math access point.
Ta DA—–
                                       let’s visit Egypt!
LANGUAGE GROUP
While researching facts about Egypt, we found that children like to drink strawberry juice and mango juice. Since we LOVE making food, we decided to take a stab at making our own juice.
We used the recipes found here: Let’s Make Strawberry Juice and Mango Juice!
We started out by making strawberry juice. Our students helped measure out the correct amounts of strawberries and sugar and we put them in the blender.
We talked about WHERE we had to put the ingredients since all of them went into the blender. We love repetition!
Once the ingredients were in the blender, each of our students got to activate the blender by pressing a switch.
We had to practice holding the button down since our students like to tap the switch which turns the blender off and on.
Once the juice was finished, it was time to taste test!
We counted out cups for the students and then cups for the adults. We had 6 students and 7 adults, so we asked our students to indicate which there were “more” of.
Determine if the quantity in two sets of objects is same or different is a math access point.
While our students were trying out the strawberry juice, we started making the mango juice. It was nice that each of these recipes were almost exactly the same!
Once each student and adult had tried each kind of juice, we voted to see which was preferred MORE.
                             Mango juice was the winner!
Join us again next week for more fun and learning—–Group by Group!