Holidays Around the World: Mexico

Today was our first day traveling the world!! The kids had a BLAST! On Monday we pulled down the map and discussed how our school is in a city, which is in the state of Florida, which is in a country, etc. Then we brainstormed other countries that we knew about--this was a tough one! I was getting answers like New England (I think because the Patriots game was on the night before haha). So we really had to take a closer look at our world map. It ended up being a great little lesson!

Then we talked about the holidays we celebrate and how people around the world celebrate different holidays or celebrate the same holiday differently. I asked them if they wanted to travel around the world to check out the similarities/differences. Of course they said YES!

So we started brainstorming things we would need: suitcases, airplane tickets, and I introduced passports-which was new to most students! Then we started preparing!

This morning we filled out our boarding passes. They LOVED that the bar code was on there! I overheard them talking about how there is an 'actual scanner!'

We grabbed our suitcases in one hand and our boarding passes in the other and we lined up! I 'scanned' all of their tickets and collected their suitcases to put them under the airplane! You know how those overhead compartments always fill up way too quickly ;)

We buckled our seat belts, I did a quick airplane safety presentation, and then informed them that today they were in luck...we had a free, in-flight, movie! The movie was all about Mexico!

I showed them the slides (from my Holidays Around the World unit) and we discussed the Mexican traditions. 

When we arrived in Mexico we made beautiful poinsettia flowers. But, that just wasn't enough for my little tourists. During the in-flight movie, they learned that piñatas are popular at the Las Posadas parties. So, they just had to make one of their own! 

 Each student was allowed to pick a couple pieces of candy.

We decorated paper bags with tissue paper and put the candy inside. Then, I punched a hole in the bag, tied a string to the top, and there you have it...a piñata!

We added a Mexico sticker onto our suitcases and glued our Mexico stamp into our passports.

During writing, each student wrote one page in their travel journal. They turned out adorable. I can't wait to see them when they are finished traveling the world!

The above activities can be found in my Holidays Around the World unit on TPT.