Let’s do a fun history craft where we make our own super easy and fun ancient Egyptian pyramid tomb box craft! This Egyptian pyramid tomb box craft is a super fun and educational craft you make at home or in the classroom using a small box and some paints! You can use your Egyptian pyramid tomb box to store all your treasures as well as some positive words of affirmation.
Egyptian Pyramid History for kids
The Pyramids in Egypt were built a long, long time ago during the Old Kingdom. One of the oldest pyramids was built to house King Djoser after he passed away. The pyramid was the largest step-pyramid structure for its time and a monument to Ancient Egyptian architecture!
Later, around 2550 BCE, the largest pyramid in the world would be built at Giza by King Kufu, and it would be called Kufu’s Pyramid. It was an architectural marvel both then and now!
Insides of the pyramids were tombs that were filled with gifts, tools, food, companions, and much more for the pharaoh to have once he entered the afterlife. In addition to these, the walls of tombs were usually inscribed texts to support the king in his journey through the afterlife. Most of the texts were meant to make the pharaoh stronger or help defend him from evil spirits, such as the texts found on the Pyramid of Unas. In this craft we will be mimicking the tombs that have been found inside Egypt’s pyramids so that you can have a safe place to keep all your treasures.
You can read more about the Pyramids and Ancient Egypt at the end of this article!
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Easy Egyptian pyramid tomb craft for kids
- This history craft is good for kids in kindergarten or older, and for adults too!
- Making your own Egyptian Tomb craft teaches motor skills, creativity, and history.
- Kid’s will have fun making this history craft and be able to use it to store their toys, treasures, and kind, uplifting words.
Supplies Needed to make your own egyptian pyramid tomb
- Shoebox or small box with lid
- Pencil
- Paint brushes
- Paints and/or paint markers (white, yellow, blue, dark yellow, red)
- Ruler or straight edge
- Note cards or sticky notes
Instructions to make your own Egyptian pyramid tomb
Step 1
Gather all your supplies together. Take your box and paint the entire outside white and wait for the paint to dry.
Step 2
Take your ruler and measure the vertical halfway point on the sides of your box. Add a small line, dot, or mark at the middle point. Use your ruler to draw a straight line across the middle of the box.
Step 3
On the bottom half of the box, paint it yellow. This will be sand. Let the paint dry.
Step 4
Paint age upper half and the lid of the box light or sky blue. Let the paint dry. You can take some white paint and add clouds to the sky for some visual interest.
Step 5
Take a pencil and draw a triangle on the longer side of the box. Color the triangle in with a darker shade of yellow paint. You can add a few smaller triangles as well to spice up the design and add visual interest.
On the opposite longer side of your box, follow the same to draw another pyramid on that side.
Step 6
On the lid of your box, draw a circle and then draw another smaller circle. The circles should mimmic an ancient Egyptian Sun disk.
Step 7
Paint the ring of the sun disk yellow to look like gold and paint the center part of the sun disk red. Let it dry.
For older kids, you can mix your paints to add highlights and shadows to your sun disk! Use a rounded paint brush to help blend the colors into each other and really get that 3D effect!
Step 8
Once you’re happy with your pyramid designs and the paint has dried, grab your sticky notes or note cards. Write some words of affirmation on the sticky notes such as; “I am awesome,” “I am strong,” “I am loved,” and so many more.
Don’t be afraid to get creative with these!
Step 9
Put your notes inside of your box along with any cool treasures, toys, or anything your kid wants to keep safe!
Ta-da! Now you have your very own pyramid tomb to keep all of your treasures, just like the great pharaohs of ancient Egypt!
Finsihed ancient egyptian pyramid tomb craft
I had an absolute blast making this craft! I always enjoy the crafts that allow me to paint something as it’s always pretty relaxing. I think my favorite part of the craft was painting the sun disk, which I originally had not planned when drafting up the Egyptian pyramid tomb box craft. What was your favorite part? Tell us in the comments below this article!
Tips for Making your own egyptian pyramid tomb
- If you want your paint to dry faster, use a hair dryer to speed up the process.
- Use some paint markers or a fine bristled brush to add details to the sand and to the pyramids to make it appear more dynamic.
- Try mixing your paints to get more dynamic colors and use a round brush to blend the colors together!
My experience making my own pyramid tomb
I got the idea to make this craft from my Ancient Egyptian history class that I’ve been taking this summer. The class has provided a lot of inspiration for me in addition to being a genuinely interesting deep dive into ancient Egyptian history.
The inspiration for this craft was the “Pyramid Texts of Unas”, from Pen, Stylus, and Chisel: An Ancient Egypt Sourcebook by David Miano and A History of Ancient Egypt by Marc Van de Mieroop. Both books were apart of the previously mentioned Ancient Egypt class that I’m taking. What we had covered in those books a couple weeks ago had primarily been focused on the pyramids and their significance to the ancient Egyptians. I though that it would make an excellent treasure box type craft and would be a good way to introduce kids to positive self affirmations.
You can read more about my findings and what I learned in the section below!
Egyptian pyramid and tomb history for kids
Like stated at the beginning of the article, the pyramids in Egypt were built a very long time ago. One of the first Egyptian pyramids is Djoser’s Pyramid near Saqqara, Egypt. It is believed to be from the Third Dynasty of the Old Kingdom. The pyramid was the largest stone structure for its time and shows some of the first burial complexes to be built out of stone. Archeologists believe that the pyramid was built by the architect Imhotep, as his name has been found written on statues of king Djoser. Imhotep was likely a very important figure during the Third Dynasty, as many ancient Egyptian architects did not have their names written on their work and Imhotep had made a massive contribution to Djoser’s reign through the construction of the pyramid. In addition to being a burial chamber for the kings once they passed away, they pyramid’s also served as a testament to the kings power and authority throughout Egypt.
Later around 2550 BCE, the largest Pyramid in Egypt would be built at Giza. This Pyramid is Kufu’s Pyramid, which stands at 146m (479ft) high and 230m by 230m (754ft by 754ft) wide. Its hypothesized that Kufu’s pyramid contains about 2,300,000 blocks. The structure was, and still is an architectural marvel! Kufu’s Pyramid was considered to be one of the seven wonders of the world during ancient times, and it is the only wonder that is still standing today! In addition to Kufu’s pyramids were two other smaller pyramids built by his son and grandson. Alongside these three main pyramids, were three other smaller pyramids. These are the Queens Pyramids, which housed each pharaoh’s wife after she had passed away so that they could be in the afterlife together.
Inside of all the pyramids were tombs and burial complexes which held the pharaohs, their treasures, tools, food, their servants and guards, and much more to accompany them in the afterlife. On the inside walls of some of these tombs were spells and texts meant to help the pharaoh’s make it safely to the afterlife. One of the earliest examples is the Pyramid Texts of Unas found inside Unas’s Pyramid. On the walls of his pyramid were texts, spells, and other inscriptions meant to help him through the afterlife. Unas is compared to the Egyptian Gods, such as Ra and Horus, and is written to conquer all evil spirits that may prevent him from making it to a happy afterlife.
Here’s a fun video by TEDed on how the Egyptians built the pyramids!
Easy Kids Egyptian pyramid Tomb Box Craft
Materials
- shoebox or small box with lid,
- pencil,
- paints and/or paint markers,
- ruler or straight edge,
- paint brushes
- note cards or sticky notes.
Tools
- Ruler
- paint brushes
Instructions
- Start by painting the sides and lid of your box white.
- Use a ruler to mark half way up the sides of the box, from that mark draw a straight line across all sides of the box.
- Paint the bottom half yellow. Let that dry.
- Paint the upper half and the lid light blue. Let that dry.
- On the longer sides of the box, draw a triangle with your pencil on the sand.
- Color in the triangle with a darker shade of yellow. Let that dry.
- Using your pencil, you can add a few more pyramids and color them in with the darker shade of yellow. Let the paint dry.
- On the lid of the box in the center, draw a circle. Inside the circle draw another smaller circle, try to mimmic the Egyptian Sun disks.
- Paint the center circle red and the ring around it yellow or gold.
- Write some words of affirmation on a few sticky notes and add them to your box.
- Add a couple toys, treasures, and trinkets then ta-da! You now have your very own Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Tomb in a box!
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How did your Egyptian pyramid box craft turn out? Let us know in the comments!
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