These are three fun activities that we did to go along with our focus on Moses and the plagues of Egypt during Gv's Latticed Learning time.
Since there were ten different plagues, I decided to try a modification of our Creation Box activity and also to do something kind of similar to the Creation Book we made. I also wanted to get Gv up and moving, so we acted things out a bit, too.
This was all a lot to do in one day, but it really worked out well for us and seemed to tie all the activities and plagues together for Gv in a way she could more easily understand. For each plague, we would start with the hands-on activity, then add our plague item to the box, and then at the end, we created our plague sheet craft.
I put a few drops of red food coloring in a canning jar, then we poured some water in and watched the clear water turn red:
I only filled it halfway before putting the lid on and Gv liked it so much, she played with it all week.
We made a mini calming jar with red glitter and that was the first item in our 10 Plagues Box:
Since there were ten different plagues, I decided to try a modification of our Creation Box activity and also to do something kind of similar to the Creation Book we made. I also wanted to get Gv up and moving, so we acted things out a bit, too.
This was all a lot to do in one day, but it really worked out well for us and seemed to tie all the activities and plagues together for Gv in a way she could more easily understand. For each plague, we would start with the hands-on activity, then add our plague item to the box, and then at the end, we created our plague sheet craft.
Plague 1 - Water to Blood
I put a few drops of red food coloring in a canning jar, then we poured some water in and watched the clear water turn red:
I only filled it halfway before putting the lid on and Gv liked it so much, she played with it all week.
We made a mini calming jar with red glitter and that was the first item in our 10 Plagues Box:
Plague 2 - Frogs
We got physical with this one, hopping up and down like frogs:
Then we added a stuffed frog to the box:
...and then added a bag of rice lice to our box:
Then we added it to our box:
Then we stuck the animals in the box:
Then we put a band-aid on some bubble wrap for our addition to the box:
Then we stuck the balls in our box:
She had this little bug baby toy that we added to the box as our locust:
We added the same piece of black felt used in our Creation Box to this collection:
Then we added a baby doll wrapped in thin fabric to add to the box. I realize this might be a little creepy for some children, but Gv was fine with it. If you're concerned about frightening your little one, maybe glue together some craft sticks into the shape of a door frame and then put red paint or marker across the top.
This is how the box looked when we were finished:
Finally, we made our craft. Originally I was going to make another book for this (like we did for the creation story), but then I realized we could go with something smaller and I just came up with this:
You can print out the set of numbers I made for this here .
For the first plague, we colored half of the number one in blue and half in red to represent the water turning to blood.
For plagues 2, 3, 4 & 8, Gv just covered the numbers with stickers. We just so happened to have a set of bug stickers, so that worked out just swell. I guess if you don't happen to have stickers with frogs, lice, flies, and locusts, then you could just draw them on.
For plague five, I added a horn, legs, and tail to the number 5, made an "X" for the eye and included a rounded half-circle in pink to the tip for the nose.
We covered the six in orange dots, then put a band-aid on it.
I drew a cloud and lightning bolt on the number 7, then Gv glued on tiny balls of aluminum foil for the hail.
We colored the number 9 black and then glued down googly eyes.
We colored the number 10 brown, added a black door handle to one side of the 1, then glued down red tissue paper along the top for blood.
I cut everything out for Gv (her skills aren't quite ready for numbers yet) and she glued them all down on a sheet of construction paper.
Gv really has fun with her 10 Plagues Sheet - she'll bring it over to the Plague Box, then go through what they all are.
These were all definitely fun activities to do to introduce the plagues to her and I know they really got stuck in her brain, because later in the week when we watched this movie, she shouted them all out as they appeared on the screen.
Then we added a stuffed frog to the box:
Plague 3 - Lice
Although I realize some Bibles say gnats, my Bible says lice, so we went with scratching for our motion: |
| Note the open mouth - scratching lice requires loud yodeling, dontcha know? |
Plague 4 - Flies
Gv went crazy with the fly swatter:
Then we added it to our box:
Plague 5 - Livestock
We knocked over Gv's barn critters to show that they got sick and died:
Then we stuck the animals in the box:
Plague 6 - Boils
Gv put on some band-aids to cover up the "sores" of boils: |
| Gv's new little buddy was right there in the mix for these activities |
Then we put a band-aid on some bubble wrap for our addition to the box:
Plague 7 - Hail
Gv tossed mini whiffle balls onto the couch to make it hail:
Then we stuck the balls in our box:
Plague 8 - Locusts
For this one, we just ran around like the Smurfs in this episode, flapping and chomping. I tried taking a photo, but Gv got into this so much, the blur was beyond anything I could share.She had this little bug baby toy that we added to the box as our locust:
Plague 9 - Darkness
We crouched down in a closet, to demonstrate how dark it must have been. I didn't take a photo of this. Wait. Yes I did. Here's what it looked like:
We added the same piece of black felt used in our Creation Box to this collection:
Plague 10 - Death of the Firstborn
We draped a red sheet over a doorway for protection:
Then we added a baby doll wrapped in thin fabric to add to the box. I realize this might be a little creepy for some children, but Gv was fine with it. If you're concerned about frightening your little one, maybe glue together some craft sticks into the shape of a door frame and then put red paint or marker across the top.
This is how the box looked when we were finished:
Finally, we made our craft. Originally I was going to make another book for this (like we did for the creation story), but then I realized we could go with something smaller and I just came up with this:
 |
| Gv did the gluing all by herself - can you tell? |
You can print out the set of numbers I made for this here .
For the first plague, we colored half of the number one in blue and half in red to represent the water turning to blood.
For plagues 2, 3, 4 & 8, Gv just covered the numbers with stickers. We just so happened to have a set of bug stickers, so that worked out just swell. I guess if you don't happen to have stickers with frogs, lice, flies, and locusts, then you could just draw them on.
For plague five, I added a horn, legs, and tail to the number 5, made an "X" for the eye and included a rounded half-circle in pink to the tip for the nose.
We covered the six in orange dots, then put a band-aid on it.
I drew a cloud and lightning bolt on the number 7, then Gv glued on tiny balls of aluminum foil for the hail.
We colored the number 9 black and then glued down googly eyes.
We colored the number 10 brown, added a black door handle to one side of the 1, then glued down red tissue paper along the top for blood.
I cut everything out for Gv (her skills aren't quite ready for numbers yet) and she glued them all down on a sheet of construction paper.
Gv really has fun with her 10 Plagues Sheet - she'll bring it over to the Plague Box, then go through what they all are.
These were all definitely fun activities to do to introduce the plagues to her and I know they really got stuck in her brain, because later in the week when we watched this movie, she shouted them all out as they appeared on the screen.
Do you any other ideas for ways to represent the 10 plagues of Egypt? Would you feel comfortable with the wrapped baby, or feel better about sticking to the doorway idea? I'd love to hear! Either leave a comment below or email me at lisahealy (at) outlook (dot) com.
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