A Craft Project to Make an Ancient Egyptian Chariot

Giving kids crafts to make while they learn history can help them retain more information. If your students are learning about ancient Egyptian history, one of the craft projects they can make is a chariot. Chariots were a big part of the culture and transportation of Egypt. Have your students make an Egyptian chariot as a school or church project.

Choose a medium that works best for the age children you work with. Clay or other craft dough works well with kids of almost any age. The kids can shape the dough into both the wheels and the body of the chariot. If you like to recycle, use small milk cartons and large buttons to make the chariots.

Fashion dough chariots by making the different parts and connecting them once the dough is dry. If you glue the pieces together, the wheels of the chariot will not move, making more of a decorative type craft. If you want to connect pieces using wire, poke holes through the center of the wheel and into the body of the chariot where it meets the wheel, using the wire. For best results, cover the wire in glue before inserting it through the holes to help it hold better. Use wire only when children are old enough to be careful with it.

Milk carton chariots work well when you have limited time to complete the project. Before the project, ask people to save their pint or half pint size milk cartons. If you teach at a school, put a box out in the lunchroom to collect empty cartons. After rinsing out the containers, let them dry to eliminate the rotten milk smell. Dry with the opening down to help speed up the drying time. The kids will then cut off the opening of the container to form the chariot shape. Allow the kids to cut the shape the way they want, but you might want to have some pictures of chariots on hand for them to look at. To make the wheels use either large buttons or find some wooden wheels at a craft store. Attach the wheels with brass clasps.

Depending on the medium your kids used to make the chariots, you can finish them in different ways. If you used colored craft dough, a simple spray glaze will help protect the chariots and make them last a little bit longer. If you used white dough or milk cartons, paint will work nicely. Use an acrylic paint that is easy to wash up when kids make a mess. Give these a coat of spray-on glaze as well to protect their paint.