Resources: Handouts, scissors, glue, split pins, atlases or globes (optional)
Support Handout (1): This is a template for a season wheel that shows the definition and a picture of each season. The Egyptian name is given, and the definition can be cut out and matched.
Core Handout (2): This is a template to make a season wheel that shows the Egyptian name, definition and a picture of each season. Instructions for how to make the wheel are included.
Stretch Handout (3): This is an additional task to record three other uses for the Nile.
Challenge Handout (4): This handout provides space for the children to write a letter.
Using the starter slides in the presentation, recap the first ancient civilisations and key events in Ancient Egypt.
Using the presentation, explore with the children the location of the Ancient Egyptian civilisation. You may ask the children to look for Egypt in an atlas or on a globe. They will use their learning from geography to understand that most of Egypt is desert, and this makes it difficult to live in. The children will then begin to understand that the Nile provides a fertile place to farm, and they will explore the Nile’s flooding cycle. They will understand how ancient farmers used this cycle to successfully grow crops, and the other uses for the Nile that allowed Egypt to develop as a powerful civilisation.
Using the handout, ask the children to make a farming season wheel to demonstrate the three farming seasons in Egypt. As an additional task, ask the children to give three other uses for the Nile, apart from farming.
Challenge Task:
Using the handout, ask the children to imagine they are an Ancient Egyptian farmer, writing a letter to a farmer in another ancient civilisation. Can they explain what they have to do to grow crops?
Ask the children to hold up their wheels to show the correct season in response to questions asked about the Ancient Egyptian farming cycle:
When were seeds planted?
When were crops ready to be eaten?
When could they not farm anything?
When might they use a shaduf?
The Ancient Egyptian civilisation developed along the Nile River in north-eastern Africa, stretching from the Nile’s first cataract near modern-day Aswan to the Nile Delta on the Mediterranean coast. The Nile was crucial because its annual flooding deposited rich, fertile soil along its banks, creating ideal conditions for farming in an otherwise desert region. This flooding followed a predictable cycle: the river would rise in the summer, overflow its banks, and leave behind nutrient-rich silt, which farmers used to grow crops such as wheat and barley. Ancient Egyptians carefully planned their planting and harvesting around this cycle, ensuring a stable food supply that supported a growing population. Beyond farming, the Nile was also essential for transportation, trade, and communication, allowing people, goods, and ideas to move up and down the river. Its waters provided fishing, papyrus for writing, and a natural barrier against invasions, all of which helped Egypt develop into a powerful and enduring civilisation.
Address
Developing Experts Limited
Exchange Street Buildings
35-37 Exchange Street
Norwich
NR2 1DP
UK
Phone
01603 273515
Email
[email protected]
Copyright 2026 Developing Experts, All rights reserved.
Unlock expert-designed lessons, resources, and assessments tailored for educators. No credit card required.
Claim Your Free Trial →
