Blogger / 21 September, 2020 / Nanny Anita

How to Make Papyrus

Last term EC was learning about Ancient Egypt for history. I’m not going to lie; I was pretty psyched about it. I have always been fascinated by the Ancient Egyptians. We did, for the most part follow what the school was setting. But I added some of our own activities into it, just so EC didn’t have to just sit in front of the computer screen. One of the activities we did was learn how to make papyrus.

Make sure you follow my activities board on Pinterest for more ideas. Don’t forget to save the pin for later.

To make your own papyrus you will need:

• Paper bag/ paper/ parchment paper
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup water
• Pestle
• Bowl
• Tin foil

Start by ripping up your paper into thin strips. We used some brown paper bags that our bread came in.

You could use PVA glue mixed with water, but we went for homemade glue instead. It is one part water to one part flour.

To make the papyrus dip one strip of paper into the glue. Make sure it has an even covering. Wipe off any excess. Place it down onto a sheet of tin foil going vertically. Make sure each new strip is overlapping the last one.

When your paper is as wide as you like, start placing the paper horizontally.

To add a bit of authenticity to it we used a pestle to flatten the paper, just like the ancient Egyptians would have.

Leave your paper to completely dry out. Half way through drying, if you can, carefully remove it from the tin foil and turn it over.

Once it is completely dry it is time to decorate. EC used his to make a menu for Ramses II as we had also been looking at the type of foods they would have eaten.

If you enjoyed learning how to make papyrus be sure to check out my how to make paper and fossil dig.

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