Egyptian Death Masks

The boys made their very own custom fit Egyptian Death Masks. I used strips of material from Ethan's mummy costume from last year and dipped them into plaster of paris. They were very good and tried to hold still as the plaster set up just enough to get the masks off.

After they were dried for a day or two they painted them to look like their own faces. Ethan made his with one blue eye and one green eye, just like he has. Hunter tried to outline his eyes in black like in his other drawings, but it made the mask look like a raccoon.

The Pyramids of Egypt & Models of Mercury

We constructed our own pyramids out of sugar cubes as part of our History curriculum this year. We are working on the Ancient world this semester and currently focusing on Egypt. We also tried to make a model of Egypt itself. Making the water was tricky, but we used plaster of paris. We put one of the pyramids in upper Egypt. It wasn't long before the ants discovered the pyramids. Hunter was really excited to have ants as an addition to our model. He said, "Those are the people!"

We came out one morning and the pyramid was completely gone. At first I assumed that Michael threw it away, but when questioned about it he didn't know anything about it. I'm guessing some small animal discovered the yummy treat and made off with it before someone else did.

For science we are working on Astronomy. The boys write down some facts in their notebooks, draw a picture and then we'll have a hands on project. Hunter usually gets done before Ethan so he started working on his salt dough model of Mercury complete with lots and lots of craters (due to the extremely thin atmosphere).

Making paper

Step 1. collect scraps of paper and make slurry in the blender with plenty of water and 2 T of starch.

Step 2. Strain slurry in even sheet using screen stretched over wooden frame.


Step 3. Place felt over the top of the slurry. Gently flip it over on top of an upside down cookie sheet.


Step 4. Using a damp sponge, gently press the paper slurry out of the screened frame.



Step 5. Place a second piece of felt on top of the paper slurry so that it in between the two pieces of felt.

Step 6. Place a second cookie sheet on top of the felt so that the flat part of the two cookie sheets are together. Press out the water. Remove lid, gently flip the felt. Wring out the water from the felt. Replace. Repeat. When most of the water has been pressed out of the slurry it may be hung to dry.