Live Like the Ancient Inca People for a Day
Many people know about the world-famous Machu Picchu ruins, but do you know who lived there? Read on to learn about the ancient Inca people – and how to create an epic Kids Inca Adventure Day!
Has your explorer ever heard of the Inca Empire? It was the biggest pre-Columbian empire in the Americas. It was 770,000 square miles large! That’s bigger than the entire country of Mexico (check it out on your World Happy Map!).
The Inca people were master builders, expert arts, and craftspeople, and they had a super interesting language that is still being used today!
We’ve created an activity guide to help you put together an awesome Inca Adventure Day, perfect for homeschool or any free day on your calendar. You’ll dress, speak, build, eat, create, and play just like the Inca!
Just like travel, understanding new cultures and history helps kids realize that people are varied and fascinating. This fosters empathy and open-mindedness, plus builds important skills like communication, curiosity, and creativity.
Let’s go!
Where was the Inca Empire?
Before you start your Kids Inca Adventure Day, take out your World Happy Map®! See if you can find the boundaries of the Inca empire at its largest. It spanned from modern-day northern Ecuador, all the way to the Maule River in central Chile, between Valparaiso and Concepción. It included parts of modern-day Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chile. Try finding the area on your map!
Now that you know where the Inca Empire was, let’s live like the ancient Inca people for the day!
Dress Like the Inca
What did people wear day to day in the Inca empire? If you search for pictures of Inca clothing, you’ll see tons of beautiful and bright colored clothes. The Inca also had rules for clothing! Each level of society was given clothing made of different fabrics. Only Inca royalty and people with high social status were allowed to wear the nicest fabrics.
Men often wore a tunic, which they called an “uncu”. You could think of a tunic as a big long shirt. In colder places, they would also wear a blanket over their shoulders! They called these blankets “yacollas”.
Women usually wore a long dress, called an “anaku”. They would also tie them at the waist with a belt or sash that was called a “chumpi”. For cold weather, women would wear a shawl similar to the “yacollas”, but they were called “lliclla”.
What about shoes? The Inca people only wore sandals! Many people also chose to be barefoot. They made their sandals out of leather or woven plants on the bottom and colored braided cords to tie them on top.
Activity: Check your closets at home and find an Inca-inspired outfit!
Speak Like the Inca
The Inca Empire’s official language was Quechua. It is an oral language – that means it has been taught and passed down just by speaking and storytelling. Wow! It doesn’t have an official written form yet, but people are working on creating one. 10 million people still speak Quechua, mostly in Peru!
Try saying some of these common Quechua phrases:
Allin p’unchay (eye-lee-in poon-chay)- this means “Have a good day!”
Allianchu (eye-ee-anch-ooo) – this means “Hello, how are you?”
Sulpayki (sool-pay-ki) – This means “Thank you!”
Here are some other Quechua words that you might recognize: Coca (like Coca Cola!), condor, jerky, llama, poncho, puma, and quinoa! These words have made their way into the English language over the years.
Activity: People learned Quechua by listening to other people speak and tell stories. Try memorizing a short story and retelling it just like the Inca!
Build Like the Inca
The Incas were master builders! They built 25,000 miles of roadways throughout the entire empire, and even had a “postal service” to send messages and gifts.
The Inca are most famous for building impressive structures and civilizations out of stone. The most famous citadel they built was on top of a huge mountain – it’s called Machu Picchu! The rocks were carved to fit perfectly together, so they didn’t need any other building materials. How do you think they moved those big stones all the way up that mountain?
Activity: Practice your building skills and create your own version of Machu Picchu! You could use recycled cardboard, playdough, rocks or other nature items, or any other building materials you have at home.
You might be feeling hungry after building! Keep reading to eat like the Inca!
Eat Like the Inca
The Inca ate lots of veggies and grains. Their diets included lots of corn, beans, squash, and potatoes. The Inca people were the first to cultivate potatoes and they even used them to help with injuries!
The Inca also ate a lot of quinoa! Most people think of quinoa as a grain, but it’s actually the seed of the chenopodium quinoa plant.
People would also hunt and fish, but it was much more common to eat a mostly vegetable and quinoa diet.
Try making this Inca inspired quinoa bowl recipe!
Create Like the Inca
Arts and crafts were very important for the Inca people, and they were really good craftspeople!
The Inca are most well known for their textiles – that means items made with cloth or woven materials. Alpaca and llama wool was used for intricate weaving and embroidering. Inca textiles were colorful and were created with impressive patterns and shapes.
The Inca also decorated shields and created mosaics with feathers!
Pottery was another very common craft in the Inca empire. Most of this ceramic pottery was created for daily use, but they also made special pottery for ceremonies and traditions.
Activity: Use clay to create a bowl or plate, and then paint it with colorful patterns just like the Inca! You could also use playdough if you don’t have clay.
Listen to Inca Music
Music in the Inca empire was very different from the music you might be used to hearing! The Inca people used music for ceremonies, war, and even agriculture. They used flutes, drums, and other instruments to create their music.
Activity: Listen to some traditional Inca music!
http://www.discover-peru.org/andean-inca-music/
Hike Like the Inca
Remember the road system the Inca built? Even though they built roads, they didn’t use wheels for transportation. They walked everywhere or rode llamas! There is a famous trail in Peru that the Incas used to hike to the top of Machu Picchu, which is now called “The Inca Trail”.
Activity: Look at a map of your area. Are there any hiking trails nearby? Try going on a hike, or walking to your favorite nearby place instead of driving.
We hope you had an epic Inca Adventure Day!
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