Providing your children with activities to do in the garden is about more than spending time outdoors, it’s about providing them with a life skill that they can treasure for the rest of their lives. There are huge benefits to taking your pupils outdoors and teaching them how to care for plants and nature, not least of which is working towards positive wellbeing.
Spring, summer, autumn or winter, our list of garden activities for kids provides ideas for gardening the year through. You can show children all the phases a garden goes through as well as providing them with the skills to go home and care for their own patch of green.
26 Ancient Egypt facts that will wow your class
1. Cleopatra was not actually Egyptian. She descended from a longline of Greek Macedonians.
2. Women enjoyed a raft of legal and financial rights and freedoms, such as the right to buy and sell property and the right to divorce and remarry. However, socially they were still regarded as inferior to men.
3. The diet of beer, wine, bread and honey often led to Pharaohs being overweight. This is despite their depiction in art as slim and stately.
4. It’s widely considered to be a myth that the pyramids were built by slaves. Rather it was crafted by paid labourers who were skilled in their field.
5. Most pyramids were built as tombs for pharaohs. To date, over 140 have been discovered.
6. The largest pyramid, Khufu at Giza, weighs 6.5 million tonnes.
7. Some historians believe that King Tutankhamen was killed by a bite from a hippopotamus.
8. Egyptians were known to keep animal pets such as cats, dogs, lions and hawks.
9. Cats were especially popular, as they were considered sacred.
10. Men and women were known to wear makeup. They believed it gave them protection from the gods Horus and Ra.
11. Egyptians would use mouldy bread to help with infections.
12. Ancient Egypt is responsible for many inventions we know well today. The plough for farming, calendar and even toothpaste were first seen in Ancient Egyptian civilisations.
13. During mummification, as much as 15 metres of bandages would be used to wrap up the body.
14. The Egyptian alphabet contains over 700 hieroglyphs.
15. There are over 2,000 Ancient Egyptian deities.
16. The most obscure gods include Mafdet, who represented protection from venomous animals and justice/execution, and Shesmu, who was a god of execution, slaughter, blood and…wine!
17. Egyptians loved board games, the favourite of which was Senet.
18. Ancient Egyptians did not often use camels. They preferred to burden donkeys with their things.
19. They would also use boats to travel long distances. The River Nile ran right through their fertile land, allowing it to act as a sort of motorway for trade and transport.
20. Pharaohs were often buried with their cats during mummification – they needed someone to keep them company in the afterlife.
21. It’s also known that earlier mummifications included the burying of the Pharaohs servants – who were still alive! Later, models of servants were included instead.
22. Ancient Egypt was one of the earliest civilizations to write using a pen and paper (known as papyrus).
23. Women were able to rise to the throne of King of Egypt. At least three women did so, including Hatshepsut, who ruled for more than 20 years.
24. Children were always hugely valued in Ancient Egypt. They were considered a gift from the gods, so parents would always take extra care of them.
25. Over 30 dynasties ruled during the entire civilization, spanning 3,000 years.
26. Ancient Egypt is famous for obscure medicine. The most unusual might be their use of human and animal excrement to cure a range of diseases and injuries. Flies, donkeys, dogs and gazelles were long celebrated for their dung’s healing abilities.
