Is King Tut For Kids?

[QueenTriton]

We have tickets to see the King Tut exhibit in Los Angeles and were wondering if it is appropriate for our kids (5 and 8). Has anyone taken their children to this exhibit, and, if so, what was their reaction?

Thanks

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

The only way I would take kids to this exhibit is to prepare them first. There are some great books by Robert Sabuda that talk about Tut in a way children can relate. I do not know if the 5 yr old will understand it but I think that if you prepare them they will enjoy it as well as remember it. WE took my son when he was quite young to an Egypt exhibit and he has kept the info for years and he is now 17. You can never start too early; plus the whole aura alure of Egypt is a topic to which little kids can relate. There are also some Step Into Reading books about Tut and I bet the 8 year old could easlily read them. Go to Amazon and check it out.

 

[SideshowBob]

SSB surely thinks so... think that they would get a kick out of, and agree about doing some preparing for as far as background.

 

[experiment626mom]

I think they would enjoy it. We took our kids when it was here in Chicago years ago. They loved it!

 

[swilphil]

I know King Tut would be too young for my 5 year old, but it probably depends on the kid.

 

[JMSMommy]

We took my 6 year old (and 2 year old...although the 2 year old could care less about it). We had just finished an exciting unit study on Ancient Egypt in our homeschooling studies, my son was ENTHRALLED with all things ancient Egypt. One book we'd read was "Tut's Mummy Lost...and Found" which is a Step 4 book. We also had Usborne's "Time Traveller" book (section on Ancient Egypt), read about Anceint Egypt in "Child's History of the World," looked up information on teh internet, check out books from the library, ended up studying some basic archaeology stuff ("Achaeologists Dig for Clues" is a good children's book talking about how that field works).

Then, when we got to the science museum (where Tut's Treasures was being shown), we watched the IMAX movie, "Mysteries of Egypt" before going into the treasures room.

JM was entranced by the IMAX movie, he didn't care for the jewelry, sculptures, or other "boring" things. He enjoyed seeing the beds, chairs, games, and finally was really impressed by the mummy.

One that was disappointing to Dh and I that while it was billed as "Tut's Treasures" they were actually replicas of the ones in the museum in Cairo (I believe it is in Cairo). They were very detailed replicas, but it took some of the "mystique" out of is for us. DS didn't know any different, and we didn't tell him.

Today, DS can tell you the names of the Pharaoh's who built certain pyramids, he knows about life in Ancient Egypt (like where the people lived, how they travelled to other cities, who did what jobs, different classes during that time, etc.). I say TAKE them, but prepare them for what they will see by reading up on Ancient Egypt some.

 

[mill4023]

I saw the King Tut exhibit when it was here in the late 70's. I'm not sure exactly when we went, but I would have been between 5 and 8 yrs old. I still remember it very clearly. I thought it was amazing.

We're going to be on our WDW trip in March when the Tut exhibit will be in Fort Lauderdale. So we're definitely going to include it in our itinerary. I think my DS11 and DD8 will probably really enjoy it. DD5 will probably be bored.

 

[drgnfly30]

My DS10 & DS15 would most likely be bored to tears... or at least bring me to tears with their complaining!!!

 

[WDWAurora]

I LOVED the Ramsses (I used to know how to spell that) II exhibit when I was that age!

 

[laurie31]

We took our girls (6 & 8) to see it. We were also disappointed that they were actually replicas, but as JMSMommy said, they're still pretty amazing, and it's not like we'll be in Cairo anytime soon

You must prepare your kids in some way - my kids had never heard of King Tut when we started talking about going!


We checked out several children's books from the library about King Tut in particular, and also ancient Egypt in general. The girls were interested in the books and loved seeing things in the exhibit that they saw in the books. They were grossed out by the replica of the mummy (which they thought was real...because they thought all the exhibits were real) so we did tell them that it was not really his body. Otherwise, they were entranced (they loved all the gold and jewelry) and in fact, DD8 came home and wrote a report about it for school! For no reason! Her teacher was quite impressed and she got to read it to the class and got extra credit for it

My little one fell in love with the jackal animal that is their god of the dead. She just loved that statue - lol! Now she wants to buy a replica of it!

Have fun at the exhibit. At ours, there was a "hands-on" area for kids after the formal exhibit part, where kids could write their names in hieroglyphics and such.

Laurie

 

[momtoce&j]

I also went when it was in NYC in the 70's. I was about 7/8 I think and I loved it. I thought all the exhibits were very interesting. I can't wait for it to get to Philly (will have to wait 2 years I think), I told DH that we will have to take a drive down there to bring the kids to see the exhibit.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

They might be bored or frightened of any mummies they encounter. Ancient Egyptian beliefs focused greatly on what happens after a person dies and there will be mention of mummification, the Book of the Dead etc.

Now granted, this is all pretty tame in comparision to a lot of what they see in movies and a lot of kids think creepy=cool. But, just be aware.

So...If your kids like museums and are used them and you think they can handle what may be relatively creepy to them, by all means, I think it's never too young to start learning about history.

But if you think they'd be bored, or be frightened by the mummies, probably a better idea to leave them home.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

My little one fell in love with the jackal animal that is their god of the dead. She just loved that statue - lol! Now she wants to buy a replica of it!

That would be Anubis, the ancient Egyptian God of the Dead. If you google Anubis Statue you can probably find one online really cheap. I have a fairly large one I got at Home Goods of all places that was $12.

I've also seen a few plush ones :
http://www.trollandtoad.com/p107400.html

And I have a plush one that came with a little book. Unfortunately, I can't find that one now. It might be out of print.

 

[Tiggeroo]

my kids were brought up in museums. Their favorites were mummy and armour exhibits. They used to love going to the mummy section of the Univ. or Penn. museum

 

[yeartolate]

Every little kid loves their mummy.

 

[laurie31]

That would be Anubis, the ancient Egyptian God of the Dead.

I've also seen a few plush ones :
http://www.trollandtoad.com/p107400.html

Yes, Anubis! And, I'm absolutely rolling in the floor over the "Egpytian plush gods" I knew you could buy anything online, but who'd have thought! Plush gods!!

Not to hijack the thread, but we are taking the girls to London next summer and they are especially excited about seeing the Egyptian antiquities at the British Museum, which has a small replica of Anubis in their gift shop for $10. We were going to let her buy one as one of her souvenirs, but I may have to get her that plush one for her birthday next month. Next summer is a long time off when you're only six

Thanks again for the link to the plush Anubis! I'm going to try to upload some of the pics we took at the exhibit...okay I think it worked. Here's the Anubis we saw:

and here's the famous mask you think of when you think of Tutankhamen...

the girls thought this was really cool.

I won't post one of the mummy in case it will gross anyone out...unless someone really wants to see it.

Laurie

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Very cool pics!

 

[diznygirl]

I'm resurrecting this thread to get more opionions on the King Tut exhibit. We will be going when it comes to Ft. Lauderdale. Can you spend as much time as you want? Can you double-back to check something out? Or is it one-way and you get pushed through? My nephew LOVES ancient Egypt and this will be the highlight of his trip to Florida (not WDW!)

TIA!

 

[laurie31]

Bumping for you

Anyone been to the Ft. Lauderdale exhibit?

Laurie

 

[BelleMcNally]

I'm resurrecting this thread to get more opionions on the King Tut exhibit. We will be going when it comes to Ft. Lauderdale. Can you spend as much time as you want? Can you double-back to check something out? Or is it one-way and you get pushed through? My nephew LOVES ancient Egypt and this will be the highlight of his trip to Florida (not WDW!)

TIA!

When are you going? I'm going down to vist my parents, who live in Ft. Lauderdale, and we'll be going on Dec 29th. I've been to exhibits there before, and you can usually spend as much time as you want. When I was younger, I was obsessed with ancient Egypt--I read everything I could about it, and begged my parents to take me to museums everywhere we went---I grew up to become an archaeologist!!