Year 5 Bring History to Life with Aztec Day

Year 5 pupils immersed themselves in a day full of Aztec activities recently, taking what they had learned in the classroom and applying it to a wide range of practical activities, all organised by Year 5 teacher, Mrs Follett.

The first activity of the day, like it is in most modern households, was to make a nice hot drink to warm everyone up on a beautiful, but cold, morning. This was going to prove slightly more challenging than flicking on the kettle, as our pupils had to make their own camp fires before extracting and grinding their cocoa beans to make hot chocolate.

Under the watchful guidance of Mr Vereker, pupils successfully got their camp fires lit and after some careful stirring and pouring, it was time for the all important taste test. Due to the harsh and bitter taste, a little dash of honey (the Aztecs kept bees and harvested their honey) was added for that all important sweetness.

After a brief pause for the all-important annual pancake race, pupils headed off to the DT & Art building to create their own panpipes with Head of DT, Mrs Thompson.

“It was brilliant for the pupils to get hands on and to make an instrument that the Aztecs would have played.” said Mrs Follett.

Panpipes made, pupils moved next door into Art with Miss Marsh to start their transformation into Aztec warriors. Pupils created and decorated their own headdresses and added some personal touches with lots of colour and even more feathers! Continuing on the creative theme, up next was face painting.

Mrs Follett said, “Many of the Aztec warriors would paint their faces as animals, with a jaguar being the most common. Pupils took inspiration from Aztec patterns we had learned about in the classroom and applied those into their brilliant designs.”

The day continued with music and dance routines, as dance was used by the Aztecs as an offering to the Gods and the day ended with some popular Aztec games.

“I was so pleased we were able to run this in-house.” Said Mrs Follett.

“The enthusiasm from our specialist staff has been brilliant and they have made today so successful and memorable for the children, to help bring this topic to life.”