Studio MPL explores Egypt with art

Mira looks through the phonetic, hieroglyphic alphabet to see what she wants to paint on her stone.

Studio MPL—our art club for kids in first through fifth grade—continued to explore Egyptian art during its meeting Monday at our Main Branch.

In January, they turned their names into cartouches. This month, they colored scarabs and used hieroglyphs to decorate amulets. (We can neither confirm nor deny that the amulets are magical.)

If your child enjoys art, Egyptian history or both, it's easy to do similar crafts at home. All it takes is some paint and a stone or two. If your child wants to spell their name in hieroglyphics, they can use the Virtual-Egypt website to get a translation. (Disclaimer: these aren’t exact translations from our alphabet to hieroglyphics. They’re the closest possible phonetic translations for each character.)

Landon shows off his finished scarab.

Studio MPL meets every month and your kid (or kids) are welcome to join us. And, like everything else we do at the library, it's free.

Every month, the kids take on a new art project. They’ve made sun catchers, painted sunsets, weaved and even garnered inspiration from Jackson Pollock.

Studio MPL meets on the third Monday of each month. Our next session is March 16 at our Main Branch. You can register for it here.

For more photos from our Studio MPL session, check out our Facebook page. For more information on programs and events for children, teens and adults at Mentor Public Library, visit www.mentorpl.org.

Rose paints her amulet during the Studio MPL meeting at Mentor Library.