Aztecs chocolate history makes an interesting topic for study that is very closely related to children’s lives today. It is quite possible that they have no idea where chocolate comes from, especially in the lower age groups.
Chocolatl (meaning warm liquid) was made by the ancient tribes of Mexico and Central America. The story of chocolate can be found following this link.
This history of chocolate covers
- Christopher Columbus
- Aztec Chocolate
- Solid Chocolate
- Milk Chocolate
- Belgian Praline
- Chocolate war
- Chocolate information
Following is a very short video showing the history of chocolate in a very simple format.
Usbourne’s The Story of Chocolate book has a set of resources which can be downloaded freely and some useful chocolate links to investigate.
There is a Chocolate Aztec Resources Part 1 free on the TES. It provides fourteen free resources, some are whiteboard resources and some are docs.
This set of resources include:
- A blank map of Mexico
- An Aztec presentation
- A Chocolate presentation
- Activities:
- An Artefacts worksheet
- A timeline activity sheet
- A diary entry
There is a simple Aztec Chocolate history timeline activity presented as a Teachers Pay Teachers activity in the TES,
“This is a simple activity where students place eight events in the history of chocolate, from Ancient Mayan and Aztec drink to the invention of milk chocolate in Switzerland.
They place the events in the history of chocolate (cut-out squares with snippets of information – from an A5 sheet) onto an A3 sized timeline. Then are able to draw their own Illustrations and add more details.
There is also an A4 sheet for the students to add any other details they found interesting in the history of chocolate in sections labeled “Mayans and Aztecs”, “European Explorers” and “Eating chocolate is invented.”(Teachers Pay Teachers)
This Belgian Chocolate making site provides lots of chocolate history information and also gives instructions for making chocolatl:
To Make XOCOLATL: (SHOW-CO-LA-TIL)
- Remove beans from cocoa pods.
- Ferment and dry them.
- Roast them on a griddle until done.
- Remove the shells and grind the seeds into a fine paste.
- Mix paste with water, chili peppers, and cornmeal.
- Pour the resulting concoction back and forth from pot to cup until frothy foam develops on top.
- Serve with pride in finely decorated earthenware cups.
