This document provides an overview of Mexican culture. It discusses Mexico's location and population, capital city, flag, government, history of independence from Spain, weather, indigenous people, clothing, cuisine including tacos and mariachi bands, holidays including Dia de los Muertos and Cinco de Mayo, art, and traditional games and crafts for children such as lotería, hopscotch, and piñatas. Activities are suggested for different grade levels to help teach about Mexican culture.

1. Mexico Culture Presentation by Cristina Seaborn

2. Where is Mexico?

3. Population of Mexico Mexico has 32 states and the Distrito Federal. With an estimated population of 111 million, it is the 11th most populous country in the world.

4. Capital of Mexico Mexico City (Ciudad de México) is the Federal District (Distrito Federal), capital of Mexico. The population of Mexico City is 8.84 million people.

5. Mexican Flag

6. Mexican Government Mexican Independence from Spain A few hours before sunrise on September 16, 1810, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a Creole who was a Catholic priest in the village of Dolores, Guanajuato, ordered the arrest of the Spaniards who lived in Dolores. He then rang the church bell, which customarily called the townspeople to mass. With the townspeople present, Hidalgo shouted his call to arms against Spain. That famous cry, known as "El Grito," is re-enacted all over present-day Mexico on the night of September 15th. Mexicans celebrate their independence on two consecutive days, the 15th and 16th of September.

7. Mexican Government The president of Mexico is Felipe Calderón.

8. Weather?

9. Culture

10. Indigenous People of Mexico

11. Clothing

12. Cuisine

13. Music Mariachi band

14. Music Mariachi band

15. Music and Dance http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://rolexawards.com/media/images/the-laureates/eduardo-llerenas/01_RAE81EL014.jpg&imgrefurl=http://rolexawards.com/en/the-laureates/eduardollerenas-home.jsp&usg=__-6RQe8zS1DGtRXu9wKY3_TaqXnE=&h=345&w=618&sz=68&hl=en&start=3&zoom=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=kaHKlx8NhdfA7M:&tbnh=76&tbnw=136&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmexico%2Bmusic%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Den%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=yXV9TfO0PMG7qwGA7am3Bg

16. Holidays

17. Holidays February 5 is Constitution day, Día de la Constitución, which celebrates the publication of the 1857 and 1917 Constitutions.

18. Holidays March 21st is Benito Juárez’s birthday, Mexico’s president from 1858 to1861.

19. Holidays September 16 Independence Day, Día de Independencia, commemorates the start of the Mexican Revolution by Francisco Madero in 1910.

20. Holidays Mexico Christmas piñatas

21. Holidays Cinco de Mayo May 5th commemorates the Mexican army’s unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.

22. Art Painting on a building in Mexico City

23. Art from Mexico

24. Activities For kids to do

25. Games or Activities Kindergarten Avion (Hopscotch) Escondidas (Hide and Seek) La Cuerda (Jump Rope) Atrapadas (Catch) La Gallinita Ciega(The Blind Hen) http://www.topics-mag.com/edition27/mexican_games/page.html

26. Games or Activities 1st & 2nd grades Boleros - traditional toys in Mexico. Games Played with Toys El Balero (A Ball and Cup Game) El Yoyo(Yoyo) Canicas (Marbles)La Pirinola (A Dice Game)

27. Games or Activities 3rd & 4th grades Games with Songs El Patio de Mi Casa(The Patio of My House) A La Vibora de la Mar(London Bridges)

28. Games or Activities 5th & 6thgrades Loteria or Lottery There are six lotto cards with nine squares each, every square will have a picture of a Mexican bird for example, Flamingo, Hawk or Eagle. Each player has a lotto card. Another child is the caller. He has a pack of 20 separate cards: one of each bird. This person calls the names of the birds one by one to see if the others players have this bird on their lotto card When the player has that bird on their lotto card, we put a Mexican bean on that square. You could use a small coin or grain of rice or anything else. When you complete every square you win and shout lotto. Soon I'm going to send you 6 lotto squares and 20 separate cards of Mexican birds in jpg format. I'll send them as an attachment. We hope your students enjoy this fun folk game. http://www.estcomp.ro/~cfg/mexicang.html

29. Crafts Kindergarten

30. Crafts 1st & 2nd grades

31. Crafts 3rd & 4th grades

32. Crafts 5th & 6th grades