Year 5 - The Ancient Maya

Wow! Year 5 started their new topic today - The Ancient Maya with an exciting day of exploration and discovery. 

Our day started with a trip to the Museum of Mysteries where we explored different artefacts and evidence, asking questions like: Who did this belong to? Where was it found? What was it used for? When was this used? What is it made from? We also had an opportunity to use our senses at the spices station, guessing the four mystery ingredients used by this civilisation. The children enjoyed looking at the model of the building, and holding the different gemstones and precious stones to see how they felt. After finding out what the artefacts were we got to try a hot drink that was enjoyed during Mayan times: xocoatl. The drink was quite bitter but some children enjoyed it!  

After break, we learnt how to play Patolli – a traditional Mayan game that is similar to the modern game of Ludo. We also took part in a team quiz, researching to find the answers to questions about The Maya and collecting jigsaw pieces to build a puzzle. 

Later in the day we enjoyed learning about the things that were sacred and special to the Maya, and took part in a fire ceremony where we wrote either a worry to get rid of, or a hope for the new year on a piece of paper and threw it into the fire to burn. In Mayan times, people believed that the message could be communicated to the Gods via the smoke. We talked about the types of prayers and offerings that would have been made.  

Ask your child what the best part of their day was!