Story of the World - Ancient Times
Spine: Story of the World Volume 1: Ancient Times and activity book
Introduction: How Do We Know What Happened?
Activity:
Archaeological Dig - Red had great fun with her friends digging.
Books We Read:
The Magic School Bus Shows And Tells: A Book About Archaeology - When Miss Frizzle's class participates in a science show and tell show, they forget their rock presentation but find an artifact to present on instead. Because they don't know what it is, they use their power of reasoning to test hypotheses about what it is. There's a disclaimer in the back about how this is NOT how you do archaeology, but it still is fun! The kids really liked it.
Chapter 1: The Earliest People
Activities:
Building a Hut, Fertile Crescent Map - We built a tent in the yard and had our first map experience. Fun times ten!
Cave Paintings - Both kids enjoyed this one.
Books We Read:
Little Grunt and the Big Egg - We enjoyed reading this story about a prehistoric boy who discovers a big egg that hatches into (what else?) a dinosaur. Not at all realistic (lots of "Ooga oogas" from the Grunt family and the chances of having a dinosaur as a viable pet...well, probably not), but good fun!
Stone Age People - a non-fiction book with lots of crafts and activities related to pre-historic people and nomadic life. A great resource!
The First Dog - When a cave boy meets a wolf, he's unafraid and thinks the wolf only wants his lunch. After the wolf saves the boy's life from prehistoric beasts like a mammoth and saber toothed tiger, the boy decides to keep the wolf as a pet. We liked it.
It's Disgusting and We Ate It! True Facts from Around the World and Throughout History - Great book about all the crazy stuff people have eaten over the years. From horse blood to insects, it's in here. Red read a lot of this one on her own, and reported back in shock over the most disgusting items.
Chapter 2: Egyptians Lived on the Nile River
Activities:
The White Crown of Egypt - Parent intensive and the crown lasts about 2 seconds. Skip this one.
Make a Model of the Nile - Red was dying to do this one. It was fun and used easy to find items. Now we just need to wait for our grass to grow on the banks of "the Nile."
Books We Read:
Bill and Pete Go Down the Nile - A crocodile and his "toothbrusher" take a trip down the Nile and see the sights with their class from school. Very cute and funny.
Chapter 3: The First Writing
Activities:
Make a Cuneiform Tablet - We used Play Doh instead of clay for this project and had fun doing it. Red got a little frustrated copying her message, but finished and was satisfied with the end result.
Make a Hieroglyphic Scroll - We made a HUGE mess with this one in an attempt to make our own ink out of blueberries and cherries. Take my word for it --- just bust out some paint. You'll be happy that you did. :-)
Chapter 4: The Old Kingdom of Egypt
Activities:
Making a Mummy - We opted not to do the chicken mummy for a variety of reasons. We did the Lift the Lid on the Mummies mummy making kit as a vegetarian alternative with great results.
Lego Pyramids - Instead of sand or sugar cubes, we went with the Lego option. Red insisted on making three, including one huge one that was "The Great Pyramid."
Books We Read:
Mummies - This is an easy reader that is also very informative. As an adult, I learned things about mummies that I had never heard before!
Pyramids and Mummies - Another great easy reader about the topic!
Chapter 5: The First Sumerian Dictator
Activities:
Make a Sumerian Seal - Be sure you use air-drying clay for this one. We didn't and managed to make it work out, but it would have been much cooler had we done it with the correct type of clay.
Books We Read:
The Three Princes - A story of three princes searching the world for rare items to win a princess' hand in marriage. It's an enjoyable fairy tale I hadn't heard before.
The Golden Sandal - A cute Middle Eastern Cinderella story. Cute illustrations!
Chapter 8: The Assyrians
Books We Read:
Gilgamesh the King
The Revenge of Ishtar
The Last Quest of Gilgamesh
