Let me begin by saying this is not a sponsored post.
National Geographic Kids was at Mom 2.0 last week, and they had a table of their products on display…with one of those throw-your-business-card-in-the-bowl raffles. They pulled my (gorgeous ifIdosaysomyself) card, and I won this kit. I wasn’t asked to blog about it. In fact, I had my camera because my intention was to play with it and take pictures of flowers and stuff while Henry did his thing, but this activity turned out to be so dang cool, my focus shifted and voila…there you have it. A blog post.
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I’ve decided that I’m a cynic when it comes to kids products. I guess that four kids and almost six years of all manner of STUFF coming and going into my home, I’ve kinda been there, done that. Sleek packaging and professional graphics always decree a cool, fun, exciting experience…and let’s face it, 9 times out of 10 the packaging way over promises.
Truthfully, I didn’t expect much out of this archaeology kit
FINALLY, a loooooong four days later, I gave in.
First, we started by watching some YouTube videos about archaeology and pyramids. Primarily because he didn’t know much about it so he needed some background to understand what this kit was trying to teach him…and secondly because I needed to fold some laundry.
It was a gorgeous morning, so I thought I’d set him up outside while I fiddled with my new cammy.
The kid’s excitement was palpable. He could hardly wait to get the box open.
I immediately knew I was in for a treat, and had judged the toy by it’s predecessors too harshly. I expected the pyramid to be plastic for some reason.
It is not. Fairly heavy, made of plaster (I’m assuming). Detailed.
Maybe I won’t be taking pictures of flowers after all…
After reading through the booklet about pyramids and pharaohs, Henry’s first job as an archaeologist was to decipher the hieroglyphics on the side of the pyramid to see which side was the secret entry.
Henry is almost 6, and while the box says it is for children 8+, it can be accomplished with adult supervision.
Also, I would guess that the goggles are supposed to cover the eyes…details.
Plus, Henry’s kind of an old soul. An old soul who can’t sit still during coloring and glitter projects to save. his. life. but can do this kind of thing for hours without a hitch.
I normally struggle to get him to write and practice his lettering…but apparently this was different.
Home school mental note: create hieroglyphic games for him to use for lettering practice.
He was sooooo excited.
As words appeared…or didn’t appear…he giggled and oohed and aahed. Jumped around.
When he found the secret entry side, he cheered. This was rich.
Next came the serious business of chiseling open the entry site.
Kid was not messing around.
Intense.
Then a little peg was hammered into the metal key hole that had been chiseled to…slide the lid…and…you’re IN!
Inside the pyramid was packed sand.
Delicate chiseling, scraping, and brushing was the next step to discover the pyramid’s ancient secrets.
The photos don’t capture it, but he was just beside himself excited about finding the “treasures”.
“Oh MOM! I think I found something…!”
At one point, I popped inside to see if Owen had woken from his nap (he hadn’t), and Henry came running inside breathless…”Mommy!!! I FOUND IT! I FOUND IT! I found the treasure! Hurry!!! Come see!!!”
And we both ran back outside. King Tutankhamen wasn’t going anywhere, but good adventurers run when they find something of value, right?
A golden sarcophagus with a little wrapped up mummy inside.
And the death mask. Creepy.
The kid kept digging, and also found the four canopic urns (they held the organs of the deceased…grody!).
I’m not kidding you, it was like Christmas for this kid as he found each item.
Later that day, after carrying his pyramid around with him, filling it, and refilling it, he DREW.
A detailed, hieroglyphic copying, canopic urn faced, multi colored drawing.
The kid never draws. He will only doodle if I basically “force” him to as “art time”. And even then he complains and wants to be done after 30 seconds.
He spent a full 40 minutes painstakingly creating this.
Shocked.
The experiment manual also has instructions on how to mummify an apple.
We’re totally doing that today.
Are you a toy pessimist like I am? Have you ever played with Nat Geo toys? Did you even know they carried stuff like this?! EEK!
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So very cool. Way to go Henry!
First time commenting….what a cool kit! If you really want to have some fun with the apple mummification, try a few different salts to see which one works the best. When I did this with my first and second graders, we used epsom salts, kosher salt, and iodized salt to see which one was most like the natron the Ancient Egyptians used. Have fun!
How fun! I wish I could be a kid again. =(
Yeah, I have to say that does sound incredibly cool! I love educational toys, mainly because I want to play with them. And as soon as my kids are old enough, I hope they want to play with them as well :-)
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That sounds SO neat! And perfect that it seems to be such high quality!!
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you are a great mom. whenever (if ever) you doubt it, look back at this and see how he came to you to show you how proud of himself he is. you helped to give him the pride and self confidence. good job and happy mother’s day!