ROMKids Show: The One About Mummies

Tune in every Tuesday at 2 pm on Instagram Live as ROM Kids Coordinator and Camp Director Kiron Mukherjee combines his passion for children’s education with storytelling to bring to life science, history and art for you and your loved ones in the comfort of your own home. Kiron will share activities, easy at-home crafts, behind the scenes anecdotes and fun facts—all connected to the ROM collections. 

This time on the ROMKids Show we go back in time to learn about mummification in ancient Egypt. Then we’ll meet Project Manager Amleet Mangat, who brought our latest show Egyptian Mummies: Ancient Lives. New Discoveries. across the Atlantic, and will tell us about all the work that goes into creating an exhibit. Finally, we’ll test out our new-found knowledge of mummification and mummify an apple! 

• apple
• 1 cup baking soda
• ½ cup salt
• ½ cup Epsom salt
• mason jar

1. Grab an apple and carefully cut out a piece. Eat the rest or save it for later!

2. Take a picture of your freshly cut apple piece to compare against your mummified apple later. Take some notes—how much does it weigh, how big is it, is it shiny, juicy, what colour is it? 

3. To make your dehydration mixture, pour your baking soda, salt, and Epsom salt into the mason jar and mix it all together.

4. Bury your apple piece in the middle of the jar, completely surrounded by your dehydration mixture. Label your jar so you don’t forget what’s inside, and put the date on it as well. Leave the jar in a dark, dry space. If you’re feeling adventurous, you could turn your jar into a canopic jar! Canopic jars were special containers that ancient Egyptian embalmers would place select organs in for safety.

5. Every 10 days, take out your jar and uncover your apple. Take a picture and compare it to your original apple slice. How has it changed?

As the ROMKids Coordinator & Camp Director, Kiron is the public face of the Royal Ontario Museum’s family and children’s programs. Kiron started volunteering at the ROM at age 14 and has never looked back. Though he majored in history at York University, Kiron also considers his early years as a ROMKids camper to be a highly formative part of his education. Now, he strives to provide engaging and educational kids’ programming so that future generations can look back on their ROM experiences as fondly as he has.