Ancient Egypt Activities for Kids: A Fun Ancient Egypt Day at Home
If your children love pyramids, mummies, treasure hunts and secret codes, an Ancient Egypt Day is the perfect way to combine learning and fun.
This themed day is packed with hands-on Ancient Egypt activities for kids, including archaeology adventures, hieroglyphics, creative crafts and exciting challenges. Whether you’re looking for summer holiday ideas, homeschool activities or simply a fun educational day at home, these activities will transport your family back thousands of years to the land of the pharaohs.
Why Have an Ancient Egypt Day?
Themed activity days are a fantastic way to make learning memorable. Instead of reading facts from a book, children get to become explorers, archaeologists and pharaohs for the day.
An Ancient Egypt Day encourages:
- Learning through play
- Creativity and imagination
- Problem-solving skills
- Historical understanding
- Screen-free family fun
Best of all, most of the activities can be created using supplies you already have at home.
Morning Activity: Become an Archaeologist
Start the day by transforming your child into an Ancient Egypt explorer.
Create an Excavation Site
Fill a tray, storage box or outdoor patch with sand and bury:
- Small toys
- Plastic gems
- Painted stones
- Homemade “artifacts”
Give children brushes, spoons and magnifying glasses to carefully uncover their discoveries.
Encourage them to record what they find in an archaeology notebook.
Free Printable Activity
Download our free Ancient Egypt Discovery Sheet to help children record and sketch their findings, including a full Hieroglyphic Alphabet.
Download your free Ancient Egypt Activity Pack
Learn to Write in Hieroglyphics
Ancient Egyptians used a fascinating writing system called hieroglyphics.
Create a simple hieroglyphics chart and challenge children to:
- Write their names
- Create secret messages
- Label their discoveries
- Send messages to family members
Children love the mystery element of decoding symbols.
Ancient Egypt Lunch Ideas
Keep lunch simple while tying into the theme.
Ideas include:
- Flatbreads
- Grapes
- Dates
- Cucumber sticks
- Honey
- Cheese
Serve everything picnic-style and talk about how Ancient Egyptians lived along the Nile River.
Afternoon Activity: Build a Pyramid Challenge
No Ancient Egypt Day would be complete without a pyramid.
Challenge children to build their own pyramid using:
- Lego
- Building blocks
- Sugar cubes
- Cardboard boxes
- Recycled materials
Questions to discuss:
- Which design is strongest?
- How high can you build?
- What would it be like to build a real pyramid?
This simple challenge introduces engineering and problem-solving skills.
Ancient Egypt Crafts
After building pyramids, continue the adventure with some creative activities.
Popular ideas include:
- Pharaoh headdresses
- Paper plate collars
- Egyptian wrist cuffs
- Hieroglyphics artwork
Looking for step-by-step instructions? Check out our Easy Ancient Egypt Crafts for Kids guide.
Mummy Relay Race
For a more active activity, try a mummy race.
Using toilet paper, challenge children to wrap a willing sibling, parent or teddy bear as quickly as possible.
You can even race against a timer or hold a family competition.
This activity always gets lots of laughs.
Evening Activity: Nile River Adventure
As the day winds down, create a simple water play activity inspired by the Nile.
Use a water tray, bath or paddling pool and float paper boats, toy animals or homemade rafts and discuss why the Nile was so important to Ancient Egyptian life.
This creates a calm ending to the day while continuing the learning theme.
Extend the Learning
If your child has enjoyed learning about Ancient Egypt, you might also enjoy one of our other themed days:
These themed days are a great way to combine fun, learning and family time.
Ancient Egypt Printable Activity Pack
Want even more Ancient Egypt fun?
Our printable Ancient Egypt Activity Pack includes:
- Hieroglyphics activities
- Fact sheets
- Word searches
- Mazes
- I Spy games
- Colouring pages
- Educational worksheets
- Craft templates
Perfect for summer holidays, homeschool learning and rainy days.
Final Thoughts
An Ancient Egypt Day is a fantastic way to make history come alive for children. By combining games, crafts, challenges and imaginative play, children can explore one of the world’s most fascinating civilisations while creating lasting memories.
Whether you spend an hour excavating treasure or a full day becoming pharaohs and explorers, these Ancient Egypt activities for kids are sure to be a hit.
