Geography Track – Egypt “Almost for Real”

How far did we have to travel to visit ancient Egypt? We just needed to drive for less than 30 minutes to see “the largest collection of Egyptian artifacts on exhibit in western North America” in San Jose Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum & Planetarium. To prepare for the visit, we read I Wonder Why Pyramids Were Built that went a lot further than Mummies in the Morning to give Anna an idea about life in ancient Egypt. We never finished Mummies in the Morning, since Anna deemed it “too scary”. In fact, she almost refused to go since I foolishly mentioned to her the night before that there will be a mummy in the museum. I had to promise to her that she won’t have to go to a mummy room. Actually, I didn’t keep the promise, since the only mummy (unwrapped) is very visible from an entrance. Even though Anna was not thrilled, she was very interested in other parts of the museum. The  best part  of the trip was meeting a new friend – none other than JC from Joyful Learner and her very creative mommy. Both girls really enjoyed exploring the gorgeous grounds of the museum. It is surrounded by a beautiful park with a lot of tropical plants. It also has “A Peace Garden” where they could see a lot of common fruits and vegetables happily ripening for the fall – melons and watermelons, squash, and even  pomegranates. JC was a lot braver inside the museum and went exploring “inside the dark cave” which had a video about excavations in Egypt. Anna preferred to stay outside of the dark cave. Both girl enjoyed a small “treasure hunt” and getting stamps at a couple of place in the museum. The only complaint that I have is that many displays are not designed for young kids. Display windows started over  their heads, so the girls had to be carried sometimes to be able to see the exhibits. One very enjoyable touch was an outdoor giant version of an ancient Egyptian game called senet. It’s a “travel the board game” with relatively simple rules, and the big foam dice was a big hit. Unfortunately, it was too hot to really get them to play the game, but I am thinking that at least our family can easily come back for a tour of the grounds – the entrance to the park and even the parking are free.

Come and share your adventures in time and space at History/Geography linky hosted by Children Grow, Children Explore, Children Learn.