Science Activities for K-4
Hieroglyphs
Hieroglyphic writing first began more than 5,000 years ago. Egyptians wrote in hieroglyphs into the Fifth Century CE. Hieroglyphs are like word pictures.
There were a few different types of hieroglyphs. Some stood for entire words, others were used for individual sounds, and still others represented groups of sounds or syllables. A large group had no sound value but helped identification between words that were spelled the same. The Egyptians also had signs and symbols used for their math.
Engage students with an exploration of hieroglyphs by challenging them to think about how each of the symbols related to daily life. Use the glyphs to encode and decode messages.
The K-4 Think Like an Egyptian activity booklet includes activities for students. View the page pertaining to hieroglpyphic writing by itself or view the entire activity booklet. Both documents are PDFs.