Invitations:
Print out invitations using a program such as Greeting Card Factory which includes numerous graphics and fonts. Simply use plain white copy paper and black ink for lettering. Include your text along with graphics of mummies, pyramids, sphinx, or even hyroglyphic symbols around the invitation border. Be creative! Next, to make invitations appear “ancient,” make a pot of tea and let it cool. Dip the invitiations one at a time in the tea and let them dry completely. This will give your invitations a yellowed and warped ancient appearance!!!!!
Decorations:
Xerox pictures of the pyramids, the Sphinx, pharoahs, Cleopatra, Egyptian Art and charts of Hieroglyphics. You can obtain these images from library books or online. Place the black and white images onto black construction paper so that the black border shows. Display on the walls of your party room.
For a dramatic effect, try gold balloons with black streamers. along with golden paper plates and cups on a black tablecloth.
Party Games & Activities:
Hieroglyphics Secret Messages:
Write out the following words using hieroglypics. Xerox copies. Break children into teams. Have teams decode ancient Egyptian words as fast as they can using a hieroglyphics chart. First team to finish wins!
Pharaoh
Cleopatra
Hieroglyphics
Pyramid
Scarab
Mummy
Nile River
Egyptian
King Tut
Mummy Wrap:
Invest in inexpensive rolls of toilet paper. Have children pair up. One child gets a turn to be the mummy and must stand still while the other child wraps them up with toilet paper. Then the children switch jobs. Have the children race against time as you play the song “King Tut.” The first team out of toilet paper wins. (Make sure that children leave air holes for noses and mouths when wrapping.) Take lots of photos!!
Walk Like An Egyptian (Musical Chairs):
Play the song “Walk Like an Egyptian” and encourage children to walk around the chairs in an Egyptian manner. To spice up this game for older children, place whoopie cushions on the chairs. Encourage children to sit gently on whoopie cushions since they can pop if sat on too abruptly.. Make sure to have extra whoopie cushions available just in case!
Steve Martin’s King Tut music video:
Take a five minute break and allow children to watch Steve Martin’s King Tut music video. Very funny!!! Children can get ideas on how to walk like an Egyptian from this brief excerpt. Download on You Tube or take out a copy from your local library.
Egyptian Scarabs:
Use sculpey clay or some type of clay that hardens to have children build ancient Egyptian scarabs. Scarabs were considered sacred insects and were buried in Pharoah’s tombs. Xerox photos of ancient scarabs from library books or print online to use as a guide for children. Select ancient type clay colors such as blacks, browns, terra cotta etc.
Pharaoh’s Treasure Hunt:
Hide clues and treasure around the house ahead of time. Break children into teams. Each team should have a name and a color assigned to them. For example, Team Osiris (Egyptian god) will be red. Each station will have sealed envelopes labeled with the name and color of each team. Children can only open up their assigned team envelope which will give them a clue where to go next. Start teams in different locations to make the game safer and more challenging. Emphasize the rule of NO RUNNING. Safety always comes first.
Be creative and tailor your clues to fit the age of your children, the amount of children you have and the logistics of your home, Some sample clues include:
Clue #1 Envelope: “The 2nd clue is hidden in the Pharoah’s mysterious device that hardens water into cold stones.” (Freezer/ Place the next set of envelopes in the freezer for children to find)
Clue #2 Envelope: “The 3rd clue is hidden at the top of the stairs in the chamber where the Pharoah flushes his waste.” (Bathroom/Place envelopes near toilet)
Clue #3 Envelope: The 4th clue is hidden in the machine that cleans the Pharoah’s linens.” (Dryer/Place envelopes inside the dryer)
Clue #4 Envelope: The 5th clue is hidden in the birthday child’s room where he/she practices scribing.” (Child’s desk/Place envelopes on desk)
Clue #5 Envelope: You will find the TREASURE hidden in the large chamber where the Pharoah parks his chariot.” (Garage/Place your GOODIE BAGS in a basket in the garage)
Mummy Scary Story:
Older children may enjoy a spooky egyptian mummy tomb story. Play The Mummy movie soundtrack and lower the lights. Children MUST close their eyes while you tell a story and pass around objects for them to touch. The story should include entering an ancient tomb and feeling the remnants of the mummification process (gross!!!!!)
Ideas include:
The mist from the Nile River…Gently spray children with water spray bottle
Dessert sand…actual sand
Stench of ancient tomb…open jar of something smelly
Pharaoh’s eyes…peeled grapes
Pharaoh’s hair…doll hair
Pharaoh’s brain…some time of ooze like play slime or putty
Pharaoh’s bones…dog bone or chicken bone
Pharaoh’s intestines…gummy spaghetti
Pharaoh’s treasure/Golden idol…statue, trophy or gold foil covered chocolate bunny
You may wish to end the story by having one of the grown-ups (wrapped in toilet paper) appearing as the mummy!!!!
Music:
Download the following tunes to play in the background while the children arrive and during party activities.
Walk Like an Egyptian
King Tut
The Mummy (movie soundtrack)
Belly Dancing music
Food:
Snacks: Doritos, Bugles or any pyramid or triangular shaped snack
Dessert: Mummy Cakes
Mummy cookies: First, take Pepperidge Farm Gingerbread men cookies and ice the tops with white icing. Use a fork to gently make horizontal lines to make a mummy bandage appearance. Use black cake icing to make two eyes and a mouth.
Mummy cupcakes: Next bake and ice cupcakes. Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs on top of the cupcake icing. Place mummy cookies on top of the cupcakes.
Goodie Bag:
Simply use a brown paper lunch bag and tie them with a strip of thin white first aid guaze. Label bags with each child’s name as it would appear in hieroglyphics. Using a hieroglyphics chart, have the children determine which bag is theirs!
(Goodie bags can serve as the Pharaoh’s hidden treasure at the end of the Pharaoh’s treasure hunt! See suggested activities.)
Some ideas for goodie bag stuffers include: gold chocolate coins, ring pops, gummy worms, or anything you might find in an Egyptian tomb.
Child Involvement:
Have some fun researching the Ancient Egypt civilization together ahead of time. Ancient Egypt is a topic which appears numerous times in their social studies curriculum so why not get a jump start on learning!. Locate and xerox a chart of a simple hieroglyphics alphabet. Have children choose Egytptian images to be used as party decorations. Read a book together about something that interests them. Involving children in the party planning will encourage a sense of pride, ownership and excitement about the upcoming event.
SAFETY FIRST: As with all children’s parties, safety comes first! Careful supervision of children is crucial. While Little Ones recommends these party ideas and products, it is the responsibility of the parent or guardian to make them age appropriate, provide safety precautions and adult supervision. Use these suggestions and ideas at your own risk.
Print out invitations using a program such as Greeting Card Factory which includes numerous graphics and fonts. Simply use plain white copy paper and black ink for lettering. Include your text along with graphics of mummies, pyramids, sphinx, or even hyroglyphic symbols around the invitation border. Be creative! Next, to make invitations appear “ancient,” make a pot of tea and let it cool. Dip the invitiations one at a time in the tea and let them dry completely. This will give your invitations a yellowed and warped ancient appearance!!!!!
Decorations:
Xerox pictures of the pyramids, the Sphinx, pharoahs, Cleopatra, Egyptian Art and charts of Hieroglyphics. You can obtain these images from library books or online. Place the black and white images onto black construction paper so that the black border shows. Display on the walls of your party room.
For a dramatic effect, try gold balloons with black streamers. along with golden paper plates and cups on a black tablecloth.
Party Games & Activities:
Hieroglyphics Secret Messages:
Write out the following words using hieroglypics. Xerox copies. Break children into teams. Have teams decode ancient Egyptian words as fast as they can using a hieroglyphics chart. First team to finish wins!
Pharaoh
Cleopatra
Hieroglyphics
Pyramid
Scarab
Mummy
Nile River
Egyptian
King Tut
Mummy Wrap:
Invest in inexpensive rolls of toilet paper. Have children pair up. One child gets a turn to be the mummy and must stand still while the other child wraps them up with toilet paper. Then the children switch jobs. Have the children race against time as you play the song “King Tut.” The first team out of toilet paper wins. (Make sure that children leave air holes for noses and mouths when wrapping.) Take lots of photos!!
Walk Like An Egyptian (Musical Chairs):
Play the song “Walk Like an Egyptian” and encourage children to walk around the chairs in an Egyptian manner. To spice up this game for older children, place whoopie cushions on the chairs. Encourage children to sit gently on whoopie cushions since they can pop if sat on too abruptly.. Make sure to have extra whoopie cushions available just in case!
Steve Martin’s King Tut music video:
Take a five minute break and allow children to watch Steve Martin’s King Tut music video. Very funny!!! Children can get ideas on how to walk like an Egyptian from this brief excerpt. Download on You Tube or take out a copy from your local library.
Egyptian Scarabs:
Use sculpey clay or some type of clay that hardens to have children build ancient Egyptian scarabs. Scarabs were considered sacred insects and were buried in Pharoah’s tombs. Xerox photos of ancient scarabs from library books or print online to use as a guide for children. Select ancient type clay colors such as blacks, browns, terra cotta etc.
Pharaoh’s Treasure Hunt:
Hide clues and treasure around the house ahead of time. Break children into teams. Each team should have a name and a color assigned to them. For example, Team Osiris (Egyptian god) will be red. Each station will have sealed envelopes labeled with the name and color of each team. Children can only open up their assigned team envelope which will give them a clue where to go next. Start teams in different locations to make the game safer and more challenging. Emphasize the rule of NO RUNNING. Safety always comes first.
Be creative and tailor your clues to fit the age of your children, the amount of children you have and the logistics of your home, Some sample clues include:
Clue #1 Envelope: “The 2nd clue is hidden in the Pharoah’s mysterious device that hardens water into cold stones.” (Freezer/ Place the next set of envelopes in the freezer for children to find)
Clue #2 Envelope: “The 3rd clue is hidden at the top of the stairs in the chamber where the Pharoah flushes his waste.” (Bathroom/Place envelopes near toilet)
Clue #3 Envelope: The 4th clue is hidden in the machine that cleans the Pharoah’s linens.” (Dryer/Place envelopes inside the dryer)
Clue #4 Envelope: The 5th clue is hidden in the birthday child’s room where he/she practices scribing.” (Child’s desk/Place envelopes on desk)
Clue #5 Envelope: You will find the TREASURE hidden in the large chamber where the Pharoah parks his chariot.” (Garage/Place your GOODIE BAGS in a basket in the garage)
Mummy Scary Story:
Older children may enjoy a spooky egyptian mummy tomb story. Play The Mummy movie soundtrack and lower the lights. Children MUST close their eyes while you tell a story and pass around objects for them to touch. The story should include entering an ancient tomb and feeling the remnants of the mummification process (gross!!!!!)
Ideas include:
The mist from the Nile River…Gently spray children with water spray bottle
Dessert sand…actual sand
Stench of ancient tomb…open jar of something smelly
Pharaoh’s eyes…peeled grapes
Pharaoh’s hair…doll hair
Pharaoh’s brain…some time of ooze like play slime or putty
Pharaoh’s bones…dog bone or chicken bone
Pharaoh’s intestines…gummy spaghetti
Pharaoh’s treasure/Golden idol…statue, trophy or gold foil covered chocolate bunny
You may wish to end the story by having one of the grown-ups (wrapped in toilet paper) appearing as the mummy!!!!
Music:
Download the following tunes to play in the background while the children arrive and during party activities.
Walk Like an Egyptian
King Tut
The Mummy (movie soundtrack)
Belly Dancing music
Food:
Snacks: Doritos, Bugles or any pyramid or triangular shaped snack
Dessert: Mummy Cakes
Mummy cookies: First, take Pepperidge Farm Gingerbread men cookies and ice the tops with white icing. Use a fork to gently make horizontal lines to make a mummy bandage appearance. Use black cake icing to make two eyes and a mouth.
Mummy cupcakes: Next bake and ice cupcakes. Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs on top of the cupcake icing. Place mummy cookies on top of the cupcakes.
Goodie Bag:
Simply use a brown paper lunch bag and tie them with a strip of thin white first aid guaze. Label bags with each child’s name as it would appear in hieroglyphics. Using a hieroglyphics chart, have the children determine which bag is theirs!
(Goodie bags can serve as the Pharaoh’s hidden treasure at the end of the Pharaoh’s treasure hunt! See suggested activities.)
Some ideas for goodie bag stuffers include: gold chocolate coins, ring pops, gummy worms, or anything you might find in an Egyptian tomb.
Child Involvement:
Have some fun researching the Ancient Egypt civilization together ahead of time. Ancient Egypt is a topic which appears numerous times in their social studies curriculum so why not get a jump start on learning!. Locate and xerox a chart of a simple hieroglyphics alphabet. Have children choose Egytptian images to be used as party decorations. Read a book together about something that interests them. Involving children in the party planning will encourage a sense of pride, ownership and excitement about the upcoming event.
SAFETY FIRST: As with all children’s parties, safety comes first! Careful supervision of children is crucial. While Little Ones recommends these party ideas and products, it is the responsibility of the parent or guardian to make them age appropriate, provide safety precautions and adult supervision. Use these suggestions and ideas at your own risk.
For additional creative children's party themes, please see the Little Ones Awesome & Affordable Theme Birthday Party Guide.
Also see Best Presents for Children’s Birthday Parties for reasonably priced gift ideas for children of all ages.
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