Mexico
Background Information & Activities

© 1999-2012 BrainPOP. All rights reserved.

Learning about different countries and understanding other cultures and traditions are crucial parts of any social studies curriculum. Most children are familiar with Mexico and know about Mexican cuisine and holidays, such as Día de los Muertos and Cinco de Mayo. Your children may also know a few Spanish words. Celebrate Mexico with your children by learning about its rich and colorful history and traditions.

Mexico is south of the United States and north of Guatemala and Belize. The Pacific Ocean is to the west and the Gulf of Mexico is to the east. Show Mexico on a map or globe and review the cardinal directions. Remind your children that a compass rose is a tool on a map or globe that shows north, south, east, and west. Some compass roses show only one direction and the user must infer the other directions. You may wish to practice using cardinal directions by having your children point to objects or identify landmarks located in different directions. We recommend watching the Reading Maps movie together as a review.

There are over 108 million people who live in Mexico today and it is the 11th most populous country in the world. The official language is Spanish, though there are many dialects spoken in Mexico. Mexico’s history goes back thousands of years and BrainPOP Jr. plans on creating movies that explore Mexico’s ancient civilizations more closely. Your children should be familiar with a few key ancient civilizations, such as the Mayans and the Aztecs. The Mayans first settled in the area that is now Mexico about three thousand years ago. They built palaces for their rulers, temples to worship their gods, and observatories to record the Sun’s movement across the sky. Much of their art, artifacts, and buildings still exist today. The Mayans also had a written language, using glyphs. Over six hundred years ago, the Aztecs settled on an island in Lake Texcoco and built a city they called Tenochtitlán. The Aztecs built an empire, conquering surrounding lands and people. Like the Mayans, the Aztecs built palaces, temples, and pyramids. They fished and farmed, created works of art, and paid for goods using cacao beans and pieces of cloth. Their empire fell in the 1500’s when the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés invaded the area.

Today Mexican culture has influenced cultures around the world. In addition to contributions to cuisine, Mexico has also given the world different fruits and vegetables. Avocado, tomato, papaya, pineapple, guava, and vanilla beans originally come from Mexico. The Aztecs made a sacred drink using cacao beans, which we now use to make chocolate. Many words in English have Spanish origins and your children can easily identify Spanish words to their English counterparts, as in cafetería/cafeteria, barbacoa/barbeque, and cucaracha/cockroach. Other Spanish loan words include, tomate/tomato, vainilla/vanilla, and huracán/hurricane. Remind your children that an accent placed over a letter means to emphasize that syllable. Encourage your children to find examples of Spanish loan words by looking in a dictionary or asking Spanish-speaking friends.

Your children may be familiar with Mexican holidays and their traditions. Día de los Muertos is a holiday celebrated not only in Mexico, but also in other Latin American and South American countries. The holiday is usually observed on November 1st and it honors dead ancestors. People don costumes and celebrate together with friends and family. Some create shrines for the deceased and offer gifts and light candles. People eat pan de muerto, or “bread of the dead” in honor of the holiday. Mexican Independence Day is celebrated September 15th and 16th. It commemorates the day when Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla demanded freedom for Mexico from Spanish rulers. Families and friends eat and spend time together and watch fireworks. Many students get Mexican Independence Day confused with Cinco de Mayo. Celebrated on the fifth of May, Cinco de Mayo commemorates the day when members of the Mexican militia protected a fort in Puebla, Mexico from the French army. In the United States, Cinco de Mayo is a more prominent holiday than it is in Mexico.

Encourage your children to learn more about Mexico and think of ways the Mexican culture has influenced their own. Learning about different cultures helps your children appreciate diversity and gives the opportunity to learn different traditions and words in other languages and understand that histories and cultures are connected.

See more lesson plans and resources: BrainPOP Educators.

Mexico Teacher Activities

© 1999-2012 BrainPOP. All rights reserved.

Día de los Muertos

As an alternative to celebrating Halloween, observe Día de los Muertos with your students on November 1st. The week before, have your students prepare by researching different traditions and customs of Día de los Muertos. Invite students who have celebrated Día de los Muertos to share their experiences with the class. Students can talk about their ancestors and people they would like to honor during the celebration. Then have students create costumes and pictures and paintings to decorate the classroom. If possible, students can make pan de muerto, the traditional food eaten during Día de los Muertos. This would be a good opportunity to teach math and measurement skills. Alternately, you can purchase pan de muerto in specialty stores and in some major grocery stores.

Spanish and English

Remind your students that many English words come from Spanish words. Have individuals or pairs browse a Spanish-English dictionary either in the library or on the Internet. Students can make a list of English words and their Spanish counterparts and present their words to the class. They may wish to draw pictures to illustrate their words and label them in both English and Spanish.

Mexican Fiesta

To celebrate Mexico, hold a Mexican feast or potluck for your class. Discuss different foods from Mexico, not only items such as burritos and tacos, but fruits and vegetables that originally came from the country. Students can research in the library or on the Internet to learn more about indigenous fruits and vegetables to Mexico. Pineapples, papaya, guava, avocado, tomatoes, vanilla bean, and cacao beans are just a few fruits and vegetables that have come from Mexico. Students can also research food that is typically on a Mexican table, such as tortillas and beans. Have students prepare food and bring it in to share with the class. Students can present on what ingredients went into their dish and, if possible, have students say or write the ingredients in both English and Spanish.

Folklore

There are many engaging Mexican folktales that have been passed down for hundreds of years. Some discuss how elements in nature, such as the Sun and moon, came to be, while others teach about the importance of honesty. As a reading link, have students check out books on Mexican folklore from the library or research them on the Internet. Students can share folktales and even act them out in front of the class.

Mexico Family Activities

© 1999-2012 BrainPOP. All rights reserved.

Learn a Language

Together with your child, learn Spanish or another language. Children learn languages quickly and introducing different languages at an early age will help your child improve their language, reading, and speaking skills and help them learn about other cultures. You can purchase easy language programs on CD or DVD geared toward children or you can borrow them from your local library. To help you and your child learn a new language, label items around your home in both English and the other language and try to use the words in a sentence.

Celebrate Mexico

Together with your child, look closely at the Mexican flag. What do the colors represent? What does the emblem in the center symbolize? Have your child research the flag’s history and what it represents to Mexico. If possible, accompany your child to a Cinco de Mayo or Mexican Independence Day celebration. Many communities offer programs or kid-friendly festivals to honor the holidays. Together read books and research information about the holiday and discuss its importance to Mexico.

Mexico Timeline

Mexico’s history goes back thousands of years. Discuss important events in Mexican history and create a timeline that stretches across the floor or along a hallway wall. You can use removable masking tape to create the line. Then have your child research, write, and illustrate a paragraph on an important event in Mexican history and tape it to the floor. Each week your child can add to the timeline. Each day you and your child can walk through Mexico’s history.