Egyptian Clay Sarcophagus Art Project for 4th and 5th Graders

This is a clay lesson that has been a big hit with my students.  You can see my previous posts about this project here and here.  The 4th/5th grade class studies ancient Egypt in their social studies class and they are excited to learn more about the art and architecture in my class.  I show them a Powerpoint with an overview of Egyptian art and then they work on drawing a sarcophagus design of their own.  I encourage them to use some Egyptian hieroglyphs and some of their own symbols in their designs.

Once the sketches have been drawn and colored, the students begin building their sarcophagi out of clay.  They learn about rolling slabs, building with coils, carving designs and securing parts.  The kids enjoy creating a box that can be used to store their secret and special objects.

After the pieces have been fired, we use acrylic paints to paint on details and add color.  Small touches of gold make the projects really stand out.