THE DAY’S EVENTS

In the gym:

The Mesoamerican ballgame “Pitz”.

In the school hallways:

A. Pyramid building.

B. Mural drawing.

C. Maya warrior face painting.

D. Spicy soup challenge.

In the classrooms:

     A.     Bul: an ancient Maya board game.

     B.     Maya weaving.

     C.     Maya math games.

     D.     Phases of the moon race.

     E.     Clay Maya glyph necklace craft.

     F.     Seashell decorating.

     G.     Popul Vuh puppet show.

     H.     Jaguar Stone treasure hunt.

Outside:

     A.     Maya obstacle course.

     B.     Cenote excavation (fishing for items in water/gunk filled paddling pools).

LINKS

PLAY BUL: Recreate the Ancient Maya warrior game of chance. For a simple description of the game and how to play click here, or here.

WEAVING: Build a simple backstrap loom and weave the way the Maya did. Project instructions here.

PYRAMID: For a video tutorial on how to make the pyramid blocks click here.

Drawing murals in the hallways

In March 2014, Messalonskee Middle School in Maine chose Middleworld for their community read. In cahoots with DDG Books in Farmington, every student was given a copy to read and we kicked off the event with a day of presentations and workshops. The program finished several weeks later with a school-wide Maya Festival and, of course, we had to go back to join in the fun. MMS generously shared many of their teaching materials and their schedule with us. You’ll find links to all you need to hold a Maya Day at your school in the side bar. If you have any more questions please feel free to email us at: info@jaguarstones.com

Playing Pitz, the Mesoamerican ballgame

Pyramid building

Making clay Maya glyph pendants

Moon phase race

Popul Vuh puppet show

Maya math games

Playing Bul - the ancient Maya board game

Finish line of Jaguar Stones treasure hunt

(with genius idea of colored ping pong balls to represent the stones)

Maya weaving workshop

DOWNLOAD HERE

A collection of ideas & lesson plans to help create your own Maya unit. Includes: A 30 page Teacher's Guide to the Maya, activity & craft ideas, and lesson plans on: Maya civilization, Maya Math, Maya glyphs and the Maya ballgame.

You’ll also find more free Maya lessons plan on our lesson plan links page.