handsonhomeschooling

So, I’m combining a love for Geronimo Stilton, Ancient Egypt, and board games into one fun and educational activity.

Flipping through the Geronimo Stilton The Fourth Journey Through Time, particularly the first adventure which is Cleopatra’s Reign in 48 BC we decided to learn about games.

So, we created the oldest known board game in the world which is Senet. 

Many Egyptians were found buried with a Senet (or Game of Passing) game to represent passing to the afterlife.

Geronimo Stilton Book Pictures

This Geronimo Stilton book is just like the others.

The pages highlight great vocabulary words for the theme and show fashions of the time period.

And beautiful architecture like Cleopatra’s Palace.

This is a great way to introduce your child to ancient Egypt, the symbols, customs, and one of the ways they passed their time.

While this Geronimo Stilton story didn’t mention Senet, I love to think that Cleopatra sat around on a lazy afternoon playing a game of Senet.

And sipping on a favorite beverage while obviously being fanned and hand fed her favorite foods.

The oldest evidence of Senet we have are pieces found as far back as 3100 BCE.

And the hieroglyphics resembling Senet in the tomb of Merknera.

The rules were lost, but they have been put together using context clues, paintings, and the rules of similar games.

We checked out as much information on the internet as we could.

And we put together what we think is roughly the rules for the game.

Rather than dice they used colored sticks to determine how many moves to make.

The object is to move all your pieces off the board. It feels similar to backgammon or a very primitive chess game. 

How to Make a Kid’s Egyptian Senet Game

Now, let’s make our own version of Senet.

You will need:

• stiff cardboard
• 4 wood craft sticks
• A ruler
• Colored sharpies or other markers
• White and black clay

Then, here are the directions for creating the game.

Paint or color 4 sticks black on one side and a bright color or you can draw patterns on the other side.

Cut a piece of cardboard to roughly 5” x 12”.

You could make it smaller or larger.

I used the carboard back from a pack of cardstock.

You could upcycle a cereal box or whatever type of cardboard you have on hand.

Mark of 3 rows of equal width with your ruler and draw the lines with a pencil.

Next, draw 10 vertical lines so that you have 3 rows of 10 squares. These squares represent “houses”.

Trace over all the lines with a black marker.

The original game does not have numbered squares, but you will want to mark yours at least lightly in the corner to track it easier.

The numbers snake back and forth.

Instead of starting at the first square in the 2nd row you will drop down from 10 to 11. Then, move toward the left and drop down from 20 to 21 and move right. 

On each of the following squares draw the symbols for each:

• Square 15-House of Rebirth, Ankh
• Square 26- House of Happiness, bird
• Square 27-House of Water, three squiggly lines
• Square 28- House of the Three Truths, three dots forming a triangle
• Square 29- House of the Re-Atoum, Eye of Horus

Finally, you want to create tokens to move.

You can use pawns from another game, glass gems (flat marbles) or create your own by using air dry or oven bake clay.

We tried to make ours to look similar, but simpler version of the original tokens.

And we formed the black ones into drops and flattened out the white ones like this. Bake or air dry according to package directions.

Then, create rules for your game.

Creating Rules for Ancient Egypt DIY SENET Game

Look at some of these rules.

Place pawns along the top row, alternating colors.

Player 1 takes first, third, fifth, seventh, and ninth houses. Player 2 takes second, fourth, sixth, eighth, and tenth houses

• Toss your “dice” and make your move according to what side lands upright:
• 4 colored side up- move 5 spaces and throw again
• 3 colored side up- move 3 spaces
• 2 colored side up- move 2 spaces
• 1 colored side up- move 1 space

Two tokens cannot occupy the same square. So, if you land on a square with someone else’s pawn you move theirs back to where you were.

But if they have two or more pieces next to each other the house is protected and you will not be able to move their pawn or finish your turn.

Meaning of Special Places in DIY Senet Game

If you land on space 27 you go to Space 15 (House of Rebirth).

Every piece must stop on Space 26.

In some versions you must throw a certain number to leave the space (you can make this a house rule if you like).

For example, if you are on 25 and do not throw exactly one move you must stay there until your next turn and continue throwing until you can move the exact number of places to land there.

Space 27( House of Water)- if you land here, you are sent back to the House of Rebirth.  If you fail to throw the correct number on space 28 or 29 you are sent here.

Space 28 (House of Three Truths)- You must throw a three to leave here, otherwise you are sent back to House of Water (27).

Space 29 (House of the Re-Atoum) You must throw a two to leave, if not you are sent back to the House of Water.

When you land on the last house you must toss your sticks each turn until on 1 colored stick is facing up and then you may remove your piece from the board.

Other Geronimo Stilton Book Activities

• Geronimo Stilton Journey Through Time Craft a Fun England Tower Guard
• Mouse in Space Fun Puffy Moon Craft (Glow in the Dark)
• Down and Out Down Under Make a Fun Edible Coral Reef
• Field Trip to Niagara Falls Summary And Fun Corn Craft
• The Journey Through Time #2: Back in Time Colosseum Craft
• The Race Against Time Geronimo Stilton Activities: Fun Edible Spine
• Journey Through Time #2: Back in Time Mayan Craft
• The Curse of The Cheese Pyramid Barbie Mummy
• Who Is Geronimo Stilton Rodent Notebooking Page
• 10 Fun Things You Can Teach Using Geronimo Stilton Books

Then, add some ancient Egyptian activities.

Ancient Egyptian Hands-on Activities

Finally, because you’ll already have The Fourth Journey Through Time to use as a literature, add some of other Ancient Egypt homeschool hands-on activities.

• Fun and Easy Hands-On Ancient Egypt Craft: Create Canopic Jars
• 11 Easy Hands-On Ancient Egypt Projects for Middle School
• Hands-on Ancient Egypt: Israelite Mud Bricks for Kids
• Free Ancient Egypt Mehen Printable Board Game (Hands-on History)
• Day 1. Ancient Egypt Civilization (Hands-on History): King Narmer Crown

Learning homeschool history should be just as much about doing as reading living history books.