HFClassicalAcademy Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 I'm wondering if this one is necessary? It looks like the kids will have fun with it, but is it worth going through the process? I don't mind doing it, I just don't want to do a project that I will look back on as a waste of time. I appreciate anyone who's BTDT! Thanks, Liz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommylawyer Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 We just wrapped our chicken mummy this past weekend! DD1 (who is the history student) and DS enjoyed it and have been talking to everyone about it, but DH and I are the ones who were just excited about it. The thing is, it was very exciting to the kids early on - you're working with the chicken every day for the first week or so. But eventually, when you're only dealing with the chicken once a week or so, they lose some interest. However, the kids were VERY excited once we started wrapping it. I guess now, I have this chicken mummy in our school room up on a shelf and I'm not sure what to do with it. DH says we can put it in a little wooden box (we used a cornish game hen) and bury it in the back yard. I don't want to do that because we spend all this time drying it out - if we bury it, it will rehydrate and decay. And I don't want to just throw it away. I've also told DH - I can see it now... 1,000 years from now someone will turn our yard into an archaeological dig site because they found mummified farm animals in the ground! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoggirl Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 We used an apple for a "head" and an orange for a "body." My ds liked it, and it seemed more doable to me than a chicken! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magistramom Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 Not necessary, but we had lots of fun:)! It had a huge "wow" factor with the neighborhood kids. We mummified a cornish game hen (smaller, easier to handle with the salt/spice mixture). The first few days are the grossest...just wash in alcohol and forge on. Eventually, the odor will dissipate - and take on the smell of your spices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goldilocks Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 I kept forgetting to care for it. I'm not good with long term projects. Although we didn't finish it, my children really did like it. I will probably do it again when we come back to this time period in history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 We did a mummified apple (it was the height of the bird flu scare here, and handling a dead bird seemed unwise) and it worked fine. Hobbes enjoyed it, and it helped his understanding of the process. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teachermom_7 Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 I was able to find the SOTW 1 textbook on ebay, but where would I find the activity book?? My kids would LOVE the mummified chicken!!! Tammie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prim*rose Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 The chicken thing was just too gross for me, so we did the apple as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN Mama Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 I was able to find the SOTW 1 textbook on ebay, but where would I find the activity book?? My kids would LOVE the mummified chicken!!! Tammie Hi Tammy, Keep your eyes on the For Sale board here and you'll likely find one quickly! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 Well, we are always on the lookout for projects that Dad can join in on... The chicken mummy was perfect. The kids and I studied the mummies and mummification etc. Then we went out and purchased all the supplies. One fine day Dad and the kids obtained their chicken and went to work. (They used a standard whole chicken from the supermarket.) They had a great time (he got to deal with the yuck) and we had Dad totally involved in one of our projects. The instructions are long but as I remember the time commitment after the first week or so was small until the wrapping. Dad's next project is going to be building models of medieval weapons... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carmen_and_Company Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 We did the apple mummy, too, using directions I Googled. ETA: you also need to take into consideration the time of year you plan to mummify the chicken and humidity in your area. Even if we wanted to mummify a chicken, living blocks from the Gulf Coast in humid Texas did not allow us to do the chickem mummy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KayT Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 My 2 dd's had a great time doing this project! I wouldn't pass doing it up. I must admit there was a STRONG yuck factor going into this. I followed some online instructions and use a lot more salt than it called for. I filled a laundry bucket with salt...about 10 pounds worth. I bought 25 pound bags of salt from Sam's. The first time we went outside to check our chicken mummy we were decked out in rubber gloves and face masks! LOL!! There was much trepidation, but to our surprise there was no smell or yuckiness! I ran across King Kluck in the storage shed a few weeks ago when I was looking for books. I guess our mummification process worked fine as there was no smell or anything and he is over a year old. Have Fun!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gandpsmommy Posted July 11, 2008 Share Posted July 11, 2008 We completely skipped this project. It was too gross for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HFClassicalAcademy Posted July 11, 2008 Author Share Posted July 11, 2008 Thanks for the responses! I glad there was plenty of you who had a positive experience. I guess we'll be making a chicken mummy down the road! Liz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetTN Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 We tried the chicken but dd thought it was really gross so we switched to a large carrot. Very easy to observe the changes over time and the shape was much more realistic compared to an actual mummy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 I filled a laundry bucket with salt...about 10 pounds worth. I bought 25 pound bags of salt from Sam's. The first time we went outside to check our chicken mummy we were decked out in rubber gloves and face masks! LOL!! There was much trepidation, but to our surprise there was no smell or yuckiness! LOL, we are using baking soda from Costco, and are doing a trout. The smell is nothing more than the smell of drying fish on the beach. Strong but not nasty in any way, and within 15 seconds of opening up the container, the strong smell is gone. It is an ongoing process, but kiddo is already wrapping cheapo barbies from Goodwill in gauze in anticipation, and recently took one to a party...which tells me he is very proud of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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