Ancient Egyptian Nameplates

Aiden is still really excited to be learning about Egypt, but he informed me that he is only interested in Ancient Egypt. After explaining that it is important that we learn about modern day Egyptian culture, I told him that he was in luck because much of modern day Egyptian culture is greatly influenced by Ancient Egyptian culture. We are learning a lot about both ancient and modern Egypt and we plan to share the adventures with you along the way. First up, is an Ancient Egyptian inspired craft.  

Ancient Egyptians believed that if their name was not written down somewhere then they would disappear after they died. So in order to be sure that their names were written, they made cartouches and attached them to their coffins. A cartouche is essentially a nameplate. 

We thought it would be a fun idea to make nameplates for ourselves to have on the dinner table at the end of the month when we have our celebration.

While trying to figure out how we should make them, we fell back on our trusty old crafting staple... Sculpey. I know what you're thinking, "Why is this chick always using Sculpey?" To be honest, it's one of those things that is a really good medium for the kids and really has little to no mess. I always put some cardboard down on the table because occasionally a little bit of color will bleed off, but otherwise, it's a quick set up and a quick clean up. Also, this time, my kids suggested that we use Scupley, they like using it.

I searched the handy internet and found the Hieroglyphic alphabet here and then we carved our names. We started out using toothpicks, but they were actually pretty thick and left a lot of extra clumps, so Aiden and I switched to the tip of mechanical pencils (Eliana wanted to continue with the toothpick.) Since Eliana is four, she needed a little help, so I did her name very lightly and she traced it. Aiden didn't need help. 

The completed cartouches. From left to right: Aiden, Eliana, Preston (made by Aiden), Raina.

This was a fun project and a really quick one. I think we spent more time trying to find the right tool for carving, but it was cool anyway and we were pretty interested to learn a little about hieroglyphics. 

For more Egyptian fun, be sure to check back next week and see what we're up to, or "like" Mamacita Spins The Globe on Facebook and get little tidbits along the way there. You could also just go hog wild and do both ;)

**To see more of my Scupley obsession, check out the Greek Matis that we made here, the Moroccan napkin rings we made here, clogs from The Netherlands here, Irish decor here, and Scarab Beetle necklaces for Aiden's birthday party here.