The theme of this week's Unplugged Project is float, which fits perfectly with Gerrick's Ancient Egypt study. The Nile River was very important to the Ancient Egyptians. Boats made of wood were very expensive, so everyday Egyptians made their small boats or rafts from papyrus reeds tightly bound together. For our unplugged project we made tiny boats from dried grasses tied together at the ends.
Update: The next day we let them go in a nearby creek and watched the current carry them away.
Very cool! Your army guys look nice and relaxed - must be very comfy boats...
ReplyDeleteZ-Dad
awesome boats! great idea.
ReplyDeleteLooks great fun! Does he 'get' the history bit?
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone!
ReplyDeleteClare, yes, he definitely gets the history aspect of this project. We've been reading & watching documentaries all about Ancient Egypt for several weeks. We've talked about how the papyrus reeds were much stronger than the grasses we used. We went around the house and found various baskets and talked about how they were weaved & bound together. We also floated a sea grass basket lid, which worked very well. The next day we took his boats to a nearby creek and watched the current carry them away, just as the Egyptians used the power of the Nile.
Cool - how exciting :-) Hope mine have a keen interest on Egyptian history - interests me far more than their current obsession with dinosaurs etc. LOL
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