Mexican Day of the Dead artworks

We are really enjoying our study of Mexico, and we recently learnt about the Day of the Dead, a Mexican celebration of loved ones who have passed on.  Rather than a gloomy affair (or scary, like Halloween), it's a colourful, joyful celebration.  We read about it and looked at some photos of Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations (including parties in the cemetery!) and then tried out some Day of The Dead artworks.  Colourful skulls are a feature symbol of the celebrations, and we created these skull artworks using black oil pastel outlines and water colour paint on watercolour paper.  We were delighted to have Nan joining in with us that day :)

 Lili wanted her skull to be happy...

 Nathan decided to leave some white space in his...

 Amy created two skull artworks...

 

 

Nan thought hers looked a bit like an alien, but I think it's pretty good...

 

I couldn't let them have all the fun! This one's mine...

 

 We also played around with picmonkey to turn portrait photos into Day of the Dead skulls. Here is Amy...

 and Lili...

Later in the week we made some Papel Picado.  This is how it is used in Mexican celebrations...

Here's ours...

Adios!

Hola Mexico!

This term I suggested we spend time learning about a country, it's culture, history, geography, language etc.  And, of course, it's food.  Food was the top priority for Nathan, who convinced the girls that Mexico or France would be a good option because of the potentially yummy food we could cook and eat :).  They settled on Mexico.

We use an ecclectic, Unit-style, Charlotte Mason-ish (story based) approach, with lots of scope for the children to pursue areas they become interested in.  For our family, both the children and myself appreciate a framework for our learning.  Rather than finding this framework restrictive, the children enjoy having a structure to guide them along.  I think the key is to make sure the structure is flexible and serves them, not the other way around.

We will use Galloping the Globe (G the G) as a spine, particularly the Literature suggestions, activites, and map-work.  We will use The Story of the World, Vol.2 (Chapter 32 & 33) as the spine for the History section as well as The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia.

Some activities (like colouring) will suit Amy (Kindergarten) and Lili (Year 2) more than Nathan (Yr 6).  Some of the reading and research suits Nathans level better.

The children will use this blog post to choose what they will learn about, in whatever order they like. They will most likely use a notebook to record what they are doing, and I will also take photos and record all of our activites on another blog post.

Most of the books we are using were purchased from https://www.bookdepository.com/

Here's the outline we will use:

General

Research the colours and coat of arms of the Mexican flag. 

Colour the flag (G the G). 

Do the mexican flag puzzle at http://www.jigzone.com/puzzles/1712004174C?z=6&m=A9C9000F  

Locate Mexico on the globe, in the atlas and on the North American map (G the G).  


Learn about the capital city, population, type of government, currency, religion etc.  Fill in the info chart on the Mexican map (G the G).

Learn about the landscapes, geography and native plants of Mexico. Using a map of Mexico, draw in where volcanoes, mountains, rivers etc are. Add animals and plants for each area eg desert, forest etc.

See http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/places/find/mexico/
and http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0212302/mexico.html
and http://www.atozkidsstuff.com/mexico.html 
Info about plants and animals http://www.vivanatura.org/index.html 

Do a cactus art work (look at our story books for inspiration on Mexican style and colours).

Volcanoes

Learn about why volcanoes happen. 

Watch http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/231-how-volcanoes-work-video.htm

Read more info here http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-volcano.htm  

Short news clip about a recent eruption of Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2013/may/15/mexico-popocatepetl-volcano-erupts-video

Watch http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/kids/forces-of-nature-kids/volcanoes-101-kids/ 

Video of an underwater volcano erupting http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/environment/environment-natural-disasters/volcanoes/west-mata-submarine-volcano-vin/

Look at the atlas to see where volcanoes exist worldwide.

Read Hill of Fire by Thomas P. Lewis, based on the eruption of Paricutin volcano in 1943.  

Learn about the Paricutin volcano- one of the few times people have witnessed the "birth" of a volcano. See http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/Paricutin.html - this website more for Nathan to read on his own. Includes an eyewitness account.
See photos of Paricutin here http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/img_paricutin.html

Map showing Mexico's volcanoes http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Mexico/Maps/map_mexico_volcanoes.html
 
Try the volcano quiz here http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/games/puzzlesquizzes/quizyournoodle-volcanoes/

History

The Mayans
Listen to The Story of the World Chapter 32
Read Kingfisher History Encylopedia pages 86 & 87
Do the Mayan activity pages from The Story of the World

The Aztecs
Listen again to Chapter 32 if you want to.
Read Kingfisher History Encylopedia pages 196 & 197

Spanish Conquistadors and Hernando Cortes
Listen to The Story of the World Chapter 33
Read Kingfisher History Encylopedia page 220
Do some of the activity pages from SOTW

Mexican Independence from Spain

See http://www.inside-mexico.com/featureindep.htm

Read Cactus Soup by Eric A. Kimmel

Language, Art, Music, Sport and Culture

Learn to count to ten in Spanish (G the G).  

Do the "Counting in Spanish" crossword (G the G).

Try adding and subtracting in Spanish.

Learn the other Spanish phrases at the back of The Tale of Rabbit and Coyote by Tony Johnston.

ReadThe Tale of Rabbit and Coyote by Tony Johnston- a Mexican folkstory.
Read Borreguita and the Coyote by Verna Aardema.

Write your own Mexican style folktale, perhaps with Coyote or Rabbit as characters. These types of stories usually try to explain something (like why Coyote howls at the moon) and/or have a moral.  What will your story try to explain?

Read Adelita: A Mexican Cinderella Story by Tomie dePaola. 

Look at/read Mexican Art and Architecture by Anna Carew-Miller

Bullfighting

Watch the video about bullfighting here  (Note: has some graphic bullfighting scenes)   

Read The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf

Do you think bullfighting is OK? Why or why not?

Mariachi Music 

Watch some Mariachi Music here and  here
Make some Castanets
or Marracas
Make a Mariachi puppet

Holidays and Celebrations

Find out about the following Mexican special days and celebrations.

What do they celebrate?
Why is that day important? What is the origin of the celebration?
When do they happen?
How do they celebrate? What special foods, activities and decorations are part of the celebration? Are there any special symbols?


- El Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)

See http://www.celebrate-day-of-the-dead.com/day-of-the-dead-facts.html

Draw and decorate a Day of the Dead skull - see here  and here and here

Make Papel Picado paper art http://www.teachkidsart.net/mexican-papel-picado/
more instructions and templates here

Turn a photo of yourself into a Day of the Dead sugar skull at http://www.picmonkey.com/# like this

Do a print artwork like this
 

 - Mexican Independence Day

See http://www.inside-mexico.com/featureindep.htm
 
What is a "fiesta"?

Make "Fiesta Friends" paper dolls from here

Make a newspaper sombrero
 

- Navidad (Christmas)

Watch the story about The Legend of the Poinsettia here

Read about Las Posadas http://www.chiff.com/home_life/holiday/christmas/posadas.htm

Hola, cena! (Hello, dinner!)

Read Huevos Rancheros, A Mexican Tale by Stefan Czernecki and then cook Huevos Rancheros.
Choose recipes from the cookbooks to make and eat.