Ancient Egyptian Mummy Reenactment Activity

Teach students about ancient Egyptian mummification with this fun and interactive reenactment activity. Students will role-play while they learn how to “mummify” one of their classmates, who will play the part of the deceased pharaoh. The rest of the class will pretend to be embalmers, priests, priestesses, and other people involved in the mummification process. The students will select their roles by picking cards that illustrate different burial goods and items used in the mummification process. The educator will direct the activity while using the convenient cheat sheet that summarizes mummification and the order of the artifacts.

The “Ancient Egyptian Mummy Reenactment Activity” is a downloadable zip file. All of the files are PDF files. There is a detailed lesson plan that explains how to lead the class in this hands-on role-playing activity. All of the steps of the mummification process are listed along with their coordinating items. The cheat sheet lists all of the items used in a chart for quick reference. There are 9 pages of cards to print; each page contains 4 images with labels. The 36 items include the mummy, canopic jars, sacred amulets, organs, scrolls, and other burial goods. There are 25 unique images, but additional amulets are included in various colors to accommodate for large classes. The same images are also included in black in white to save on printing costs if necessary.
To prepare for this lesson, just print, laminate, and cut the cards. You also need to tear or cut strips of fabric to wrap the "mummy" for a more authentic experience. You can use old sheets or scraps of fabric in any color, which is how embalmers wrapped real mummies in ancient Egypt. 

Anchor Standard 11: Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical
context to deepen understanding.
Objective: Students will be able to describe the process of Egyptian mummification and identify the art objects used.
Activity: The students will make a “mummy.”
Assessment: The instructor will watch for student participation Materials: Mummy reenactment cards, strips of fabric
Materials: Mummy Reenactment cards, strips of fabric, “Mummy Reenactment Cheat Sheet”
Time: 1 Class

This mummification activity is fun to do as part of a Halloween , world history, or an Egyptology themed unit. To teach students how to draw in the ancient Egyptian style with a step-by-step PowerPoint demonstrations, check out
Draw Like an Egyptian.


If you like the images used, purchase the complete set of Mummy’s Tomb Clip Art.