Friday, September 19, 2014

Chicken Mummy {Art, History and Science}

This project ended up being a super long one but totally worth it! I included it today for Art Friday but it obviously would fit in just about any subject area you might want it too. 

Make a Chicken Mummy

Ingredients:
3 cans baking powder
3 boxes of baking soda (or approximately 6 cups)
chicken
gallon sized storage bags

rubbing alcohol
spices (we used cinnamon)
salt (we used 4 cans)
gloves (if you want)


The first couple days take the most amount of work. After that, you can leave it alone for quite a while without thinking about it. It took us about 6 weeks total. 

Rinse and pat your chicken dry. You are essentially using various salts to dry out your chicken, water will not be your friend for this! 

Wash your chicken with the rubbing alcohol. Pat dry. 

Mix 1/2 box baking powder, 1 cup of baking soda and a can of salt in a large bowl. With the chicken in your plastic bag, fill the inner cavity with the salt mixture.  Pour the rest of the salt mixture on your chicken. Add spices if desired (it is very much desired) 

Repeat this process the next few days. Dust off any extra salt before adding new salt and replace your bag. We did a new mixture on Day 2, Day 4 and Day 7. After that it was every 10 days or so. The chicken will not smell (it just smelled like cinnamon) but if it does  or you notice it, it's time to change the salt. 




Materials to Finish
Glue (make your own: mix 1 1/2 cups flour with 1 cup water, add more water until you reach the desired consistency)
Fabric Scraps (muslin works great for this, we used our dyed fabric from our unit on the Phoenicians. Find the reciped for Simple Purple Dye Here 

Box (for a coffin)
Hieroglyphs to reference for decorating 

Dust off the extra salt and rub the chicken in spices. Stuff the inside with fabric (we actually forgot this part...). Cut fabric strips and dip into glue. Wrap 2-3 times and let dry completely. 



Decorate your box!



The original instructions came from Story of the World: Ancient Times Activity Book. 

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