What's included in The Maya History at Home resource and why is it useful?

The Maya History at Home is a one-page activity sheet to send home to parents and carers at the start of the topic. It includes what children will be learning, great conversation starters, ideas to try at home, famous figures to explore and places to find out more, covering how the Maya lived, their achievements in maths and astronomy and their love of cacao and maize.

What's on the sheet?

Learning: the ancient Maya civilisation of Mesoamerica, their powerful city-states, achievements in maths and astronomy, step pyramids, daily life and beliefs, Pakal the Great, and how the Spanish conquistadores changed Maya history.

Conversation starters: questions such as "Why do you think studying the stars was so important to the Maya for farming?" and "How was life for the Maya similar or different to our lives today?"

Ideas to try at home: Maya-style hot chocolate, building a step pyramid and cooking a meal with corn.

Famous figures: Pakal the Great, Lady Six Sky, Jasaw Chan K'awiil I and archaeologist Dr Diane Davies, with a line on each.

Books and websites: Rain Player by David Wisniewski, The Maya by Stefanie Takacs and BBC Bitesize KS2 The Maya.

How do our History at Home resources work?

Our History at Home resources sit alongside our history scheme. Send them home to parents and carers at the start of each topic to promote learning at home without it being a taxing homework-style resource. They also help parents build their own knowledge of the topic, so they can connect with what their child is learning in school.

Teach the full unit with our six Maya lessons.