Preparing the kids
Egypt in the summer may be the dumbest thing you can plan, I admit. That is why it is extremely important to realize that it can get really hot, temperatures of 40 degrees are more the rule than the exception. Now our children are used to it, but it is still important to take this into account!
We always include our children at the front in the preparations. For Egypt that is quite easy, because no country is as easy to imagine as Egypt does. We have shown many photos and videos about Egypt, through Google we came across this for example: Movies from school TV about Egypt.
It consists of a few parts and tells through a 'talking cat' what ancient Egypt was like. My daughters loved seeing this, and questions like 'do they still wear those clothes' and 'how do they build pyramids' soon followed!
Then I watched the movie 'Prince of Egypt' with my five-year-old daughter, she thought it was exciting! But the fun part is that I saw connections between this cartoon and bible stories. Which she then linked with our trip in Israel. Slowly she developed her enthusiasm not only for the swimming pools in Egypt, but also for pyramids, temples, the desert and camels. (Although they have dromedaries in Egypt, but I approve)
Another great tip is to visit the museum of antiquities in Leiden. In any case, I advise everyone with children to visit more museums, but that is another story. This museum (link) has a large, over 1,400 permanent Egyptian collection. Mummies, statues, objects, really everything. And let them just have a treasure hunt for children 'in search of the pharaoh'! How beautiful do you want it to be?
Jaïra (5) walked dreaming through the museum with genuine interest in what she saw. Crazy images, scary mummies but also comments such as 'that looks like a slipper'. But when your 5-year-old daughter stands in front of a statue of Ramses and says, 'Isn't that Moses' brother?' Then you know that it all sticks, and that makes me happy.
After the museum I went to the K3 film 'Dance of the Pharaoh' with my daughters, to taste a little bit of Egypt atmosphere. They seem like small things, but they help a lot to get your kids excited about an upcoming journey. In the meantime, they roughly know what we are going to do in Egypt and that it can get very hot. But above all they dance in their Egyptian K3 dresses continuously to the song 'dance of the Pharaoh'
Although I can no longer hear the songs (just like K3), it is of course very touching.
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