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Maya Aztec Incas - Free Games & Activities for Kids

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The Aztecs, who probably originated as a nomadic tribe in northern Mexico, arrived in Mesoamerica around the beginning of the 13th century. From their magnificent capital city, Tenochtitlan, the Aztecs emerged as the dominant force in central Mexico, developing an intricate social, political, religious and commercial organization that brought many of the region's city-states under their control by the 15th century. Invaders led by the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés overthrew the Aztec Empire by force and captured Tenochtitlan in 1521, bringing an end to Mesoamerica's last great native civilization.

Early Aztec History

The exact origins of the Aztec people are uncertain, but they are believed to have begun as a northern tribe of hunter-gatherers whose name came from their homeland Aztlan, or "White Land" in the Aztec language of Nahuatl. The Aztecs were also known as the Tenochca (from which the name for their capital city, Tenochtitlan, was derived) or the Mexica (the origin of the name of the city that would replace Tenochtitlan, as well as the name for the entire country). The Aztecs appeared in Mesoamerica-as the south-central region of pre-Columbian Mexico is known-in the early 13th century. Their arrival came just after, or perhaps helped bring about, the fall of the previously dominant Mesoamerican civilization, the Toltecs.

Did you know? The Aztec language, Nahuatl, was the dominant language in central Mexico by the mid-1350s. Numerous Nahuatl words borrowed by the Spanish were later absorbed into English as well, including chile or chili, avocado, chocolate, coyote, peyote, guacamole, ocelot and mescal.

When the Aztecs saw an eagle perched on a cactus on the marshy land near the southwest border of Lake Texcoco, they took it as a sign to build their settlement there. They drained the swampy land, constructed artificial islands on which they could plant gardens and established the foundations of their capital city, Tenochtitlán, in 1325 A.D. Typical Aztec crops included maize (corn), along with beans, squashes, potatoes, tomatoes and avocadoes; they also supported themselves through fishing and hunting local animals such as rabbits, armadillos, snakes, coyotes and wild turkey. Their relatively sophisticated system of agriculture (including intensive cultivation of land and irrigation methods) and a powerful military tradition would enable the Aztecs to build a successful state, and later an empire.

The Aztec Empire

In 1428, under their leader Itzcoatl, the Aztecs formed a three-way alliance with the Texcocans and the Tacubans to defeat their most powerful rivals for influence in the region, the Tepanec, and conquer their capital of Azcapotzalco. Itzcoatl's successor Montezuma (Moctezuma) I, who took power in 1440, was a great warrior who was remembered as the father of the Aztec empire. By the early 16th century, the Aztecs had come to rule over up to 500 small states, and some 5 to 6 million people, either by conquest or commerce. Tenochtitlán at its height had more than 140,000 inhabitants, and was the most densely populated city ever to exist in Mesoamerica.

Bustling markets such as Tenochtitlan's Tlatelolco, visited by some 50,000 people on major market days, drove the Aztec economy. The Aztec civilization was also highly developed socially, intellectually and artistically. It was a highly structured society with a strict caste system; at the top were nobles, while at the bottom were serfs, indentured servants and slaves.

Aztec Region

The Aztec faith shared many aspects with other Mesoamerican religions, like that of the Maya, notably including the rite of human sacrifice. In the great cities of the Aztec empire, magnificent temples, palaces, plazas and statues embodied the civilization's unfailing devotion to the many Aztec gods, including Huitzilopochtli (god of war and of the sun) and Quetzalcoatl ("Feathered Serpent"), a Toltec god who served many important roles in the Aztec faith over the years. The Great Temple, or Templo Mayor, in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan was dedicated to Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc, the rain god.

The Aztec calendar, common in much of Mesoamerica, was based on a solar cycle of 365 days and a ritual cycle of 260 days; the calendar played a central role in the religion and rituals of Aztec society.

European Invasion & Fall of the Aztec Civilization

The first European to visit Mexican territory was Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba, who arrived in Yucatan from Cuba with three ships and about 100 men in early 1517. Cordobars reports on his return to Cuba prompted the Spanish governor there, Diego Velasquez, to send a larger force back to Mexico under the command of Hernán Cortés. In March 1519, Cortes landed at the town of Tabasco, where he learned from the natives of the great Aztec civilization, then ruled by Moctezuma (or Montezuma) II.

Defying the authority of Velasquez, Cortes founded the city of Veracruz on the southeastern Mexican coast, where he trained his army into a disciplined fighting force. Cortes and some 400 soldiers then marched into Mexico, aided by a native woman known as Malinche, who served as a translator. Thanks to instability within the Aztec empire, Cortes was able to form alliances with other native peoples, notably the Tlascalans, who were then at war with Montezuma.

In November 1519, Cortes and his men arrived in Tenochtitlan, where Montezuma and his people greeted them as honored guests according to Aztec custom (partially due to Cortes' physical resemblance to the light-skinned Quetzalcoatl, whose return was prophesied in Aztec legend). Though the Aztecs had superior numbers, their weapons were inferior, and Cortes was able to immediately take Montezuma and his entourage of lords hostage, gaining control of Tenochtitlan. The Spaniards then murdered thousands of Aztec nobles during a ritual dance ceremony, and Montezuma died under uncertain circumstances while in custody.

European diseases like smallpox, mumps and measles were also powerful weapons against the local population, who lacked immunity to them. A Franciscan monk traveling with Cortés observed the impact of smallpox on the Aztecs: "They died in heaps...In many places it happened that everyone in a house died, and as it was impossible to bury the great number of dead, they pulled down the houses over them, so that their homes became their tombs." By 1520, smallpox had reduced the population of Tenochtitlan by 40% in just one year.

Cuauhtemoc, Montezuma's young nephew, took over as emperor, and the Aztecs drove the Spaniards from the city. With the help of the Aztecs' native rivals, Cortes mounted an offensive against Tenochtitlan, finally defeating Cuauhtemoc's resistance on August 13, 1521. In all, some 240,000 people were believed to have died in the city's conquest, which effectively ended the Aztec civilization. After his victory, Cortes razed Tenochtitla and built Mexico City on its ruins; it quickly became the premier European center in the New World.
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The Aztecs, who probably originated as a nomadic tribe in northern Mexico, arrived in Mesoamerica around the beginning of the 13th century. From their magnificent capital city, Tenochtitlan, the Aztecs emerged as the dominant force in central Mexico, developing an intricate social, political, religious and commercial organization that brought many of the region's city-states under their control by the 15th century.

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Overview

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The three most dominant and advanced civilizations that developed in the Americas prior to the arrival of the Europeans were the Aztecs, the Maya, and the Inca.

Map of Aztec, Mayan, and Incan Civilizations
by Ducksters
Aztecs
The Aztec Empire was located in central Mexico. It ruled much of the region from the 1400s until the Spanish arrived in 1519. Much of the Aztec society centered around their religion and gods. They built large pyramids as temples to their gods and went to war to capture people they could sacrifice to their gods.

The capital city of the Aztec Empire was Tenochtitlan. This city was founded in 1325 on an island in Lake Texcoco. At the height of its power, the city likely had a population of 200,000 people. At the center of the city was a large temple complex with pyramids and a palace for the king. The rest of the city was planned out in a grid-like fashion and divided up into districts. It had causeways built to get to the mainland and aqueducts to bring fresh water into the city.

The Aztec called their ruler the Tlatoani. The Empire reached its height under the rule of Tlatoani Montezuma I. Around 1517 the priests of the Aztecs began to see omens of doom. They felt that something bad was going to happen. They were right. In 1519 Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes arrived in Mexico. By 1521 the Spanish had conquered the Aztecs. They tore down much of the city of Tenochtitlan and built their own city on the site called Mexico City.

Maya

The Maya civilization began as early as 2000 BC and continued to have a strong presence in Mesoamerica for over 3000 years until the Spanish arrived in 1519 AD. The Maya were organized into powerful city-states. Over the course of Maya history, different city-states came into power such as El Mirador, Tikal, Uxmal, Caracol, and Chichen Itza.

The Maya were located in Central America in a region that is today made up of southern Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, Guatemala, Belize, and northern El Salvador. They built hundreds of cities filled with large stone structures. The Maya are perhaps best known today for their many pyramids. They built pyramids to their gods that towered hundreds of feet tall above the jungle.

The Maya were the only American civilization to develop an advanced written language. They also excelled in mathematics, art, architecture, and astronomy. The golden age of the Maya civilization occurred during what is called the Classic Period from 250 AD to 900 AD.

Inca

The Inca Empire was centered in Peru and ruled over much of the west coast of South America from the 1400s to the time of the Spanish arrival in 1532. This wide ranging empire did not have the wheel, iron tools, or a writing system, but its complex government and system of roads created a society where everyone had a job, a home, and something to eat.

The emperor of the Inca was known as the Sapa Inca. The first Sapa Inca was Manco Capac. He founded the Kingdom of Cuzco around 1200 AD. The city of Cuzco would remain the capital of the empire as it expanded in the coming years. The Inca expanded into a great empire under the reign of Pachacuti. Pachacuti created the Inca Empire which the Inca called the Tawantinsuyu. At its height, the Inca Empire had an estimated population of over 10 million people.

The Inca were conquered by the Spanish and conquistador Francisco Pizarro in 1533. The empire was already severely weakened by civil war and diseases such as smallpox when Pizarro arrived.

Activities
Crossword Puzzle
Word Search

Recommended books and references:

Aztec, Inca, and Maya an Eyewitness Book by Elizabeth Baquedano. 2005.

The Aztec Empire by Sunita Apte. 2010.

Great Civilizations: The Aztec Empire by Sheila Wyborny. 2004.

Gods and Goddesses of the Ancient Maya by Leonard Everett Fisher. 1999.

The Inca by World Book. 2009.

The Inca Empire by Sandra Newman. 2010.

Works Cited
Back to History

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Kids learn about the ancient civilizations of the Americas including the Aztecs, Maya, and Inca Empires.

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This page has information about the things that Aztecs did during there time.

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For Kids

The Aztec wandered around Mexico for about 200 years before they settled down in the Valley of Mexico. Other tribes were living in the area. Rather than start a war for a place to live, the Aztecs settled down peacefully (at first) in the swampy land around Lake Texcoco.

They were clever people. They adapted to their environment. They built canoes to fish and hunt. They filled the marshes with a combination of reeds and stones and dirt to create more farmland. They built dams and dikes to free even more land. Their engineers successfully built a bustling city, with wide plazas and many shops, on a swamp.

After they had settled in, the Aztec Indians began conquering neighboring tribes. Soon, the entire Valley of Mexico was under their control. Other tribes had to pay tribute to them in the form of food, clothing, goods, and captives to feed the hungry Aztec gods. The Aztec believed in human sacrifice. That was one of the many reasons the other tribes hated and feared the Aztec. But the Aztec seemed unstoppable.

It was not until the 1500s, when the Spanish arrived, that the Aztec were conquered. The Spanish brought guns, dogs, horses, and disease. It was disease that conquered the Aztec. The Aztec Empire collapsed. The Spanish took over the entire region.

Today, in Mexico, there are about one million descendants of the ancient Aztec, living and working. Human sacrifice is no longer part of their festivals (thank goodness!), but beautiful Aztec art and clever Aztec games are still enjoyed today.
Geography, Human-Environment Interaction Myth: Place of the Prickly Pear Cactus Story: Journey of a Princess Correct Behavior Aztec Gods & Religion Aztec Afterlife Government Floating Gardens The Flying Birds (an event) Tenochtitlan, capital city Specialized Professions Aztec Myths, Legends, and Stories for Kids Cortez & Spanish Arrival Achievements & Inventions Free Online Aztec Games Take the Quiz, Interactive (with answers)
Investigate Real Life Artifacts

For Teachers
The Aztecs for Teachers - Free Use Lesson Plans and Classroom Activities Free Presentations about the Aztecs Free Use Video Clips Free Use Clipart
Mr. Donn and Maxie's Ancient History PowerPoints Series
Written by Lin & Don Donn,
illustrated by Phillip Martin, Published by Good Year Books

Mr. Donn and Maxie's Always Something You Can Use Series
Written by Lin & Don Donn, Published by Good Year Books

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The Awesome Aztecs for Kids and Teachers - Aztecs for Kids

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The Aztec wandered around Mexico for about 200 years before they settled down in the Valley of Mexico. Other tribes were living in the area. Rather than start a war for a place to live, the Aztecs settled down peacefully (at first) in the swampy land around Lake Texcoco.

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This video will give you great information about what the Aztecs ate. It is also pretty funny if I do say so myself.

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This video will tell you true facts about the Aztecs lives.

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Horrible Histories  Angry Aztecs  Aztec Gardeners' World

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Please read description! if you (owners) want to REMOVED this video, PLEASE CONTACT US DIRECTLY. We will(Respectfully) remove it. Uploading this for people who are unable to watch live or on iPlayer. I do not own any of this. All content belongs to the BBC. Enjoy :)))