Growing up Aztec: What were the lives of children like in the Aztec Empire?

Aztec society regarded childbirth as a sacred act that brought new life into a world governed by the will of the gods.

Families called upon experienced midwives who oversaw the physical delivery and also performed the spiritual rituals required to protect both the mother and the newborn from harmful forces.

These women invoked the protection of Cihuacoatl, the goddess associated with childbirth.

During the naming ceremony, the midwife bathed the child in water, chanted prayers, and invoked divine favour, believing that this ceremonial cleansing presented the infant before both mortals and gods. 

Names were very important because they were assigned based on the sacred tonalpohualli calendar, which divided time into ritual days associated with specific deities and cosmic energies.

The date of birth set the expectations for the child’s future, and parents interpreted the signs to determine whether their son should become a warrior or whether their daughter might join a temple school.

Official records might also include a name derived from the solar xiuhpohualli calendar.

For instance, a child born under the sign Tochtli (rabbit) might be considered joyful or gentle, while one born on Acatl (reed) might be fated for leadership.

Boys received tiny bows and arrows to recognise their future as soldiers, and girls were presented with miniature weaving tools as a sign of their household role. 

Infants remained close to their mothers throughout early childhood, often carried on the back in slings while the mother ground maize, cooked, or worked in the fields.

Fathers spent more time away from the household, yet their authority shaped decisions about education, discipline, and future marriage arrangements. 

Although formal schooling did not begin until adolescence, children learned expected behaviours from an early age, often through learning by repeated practice and physical work.

Boys joined their fathers in the fields or workshops to learn practical tasks, while girls assisted their mothers in preparing food, cleaning the home, and caring for younger siblings. 

Around the age of twelve to fifteen, all boys entered either the telpochcalli or the calmecac, depending on their class and intended occupation.

Commoner boys went to the telpochcalli, where they performed hard physical tasks, slept on cold floors, and learned obedience through punishment.

They received instruction in military tactics and public works such as canal digging and stone hauling alongside training in civic rituals, often working under the supervision of strict elders who demanded silence and effort.

Noble boys entered the calmecac, which was a religious academy where future priests, government officials, and military leaders studied sacred texts, learned to read the pictographic script, and practiced ritual speech, astronomy, and calendrical calculations.

The calmecac honoured Quetzalcoatl, the god of wisdom, learning, and wind, as the divine patron of education. 

Girls usually remained at home, and their education centred on preparing food, weaving textiles and carrying out religious ceremonies within the household.

Daughters of nobles sometimes attended temple schools such as the cuicacalli, where they studied songs and dances for use in public ceremonies, or trained to become priestesses and midwives serving deities such as Xochiquetzal.

Boys also participated in the cuicacalli for ceremonial instruction, as music and dance were important to public religious life.

Teachers expected modesty, hard work, and endurance, and punishments for failure included prickings with thorns or exposure to chilli smoke. 

Boys proved their readiness to be an adult through achievements in warfare, religious devotion, or public labour, depending on their class and training.

In many cases, a boy did not receive full adult recognition until he captured his first prisoner during a military campaign, after which he earned the right to wear a warrior’s cloak and carry distinctive weapons.

By seventeen or eighteen, boys who had proven themselves gained full adult responsibilities. 

Noble boys completed rigorous fasting periods that lasted for days and involved acts of penance such as drawing blood from their ears or legs using cactus spines.

They spent nights in temples where they slept on stone slabs without blankets and repeated prayers to prepare mind and body for sacred duties.

Completion of these trials allowed them to become priests, officials, or elite warriors. 

Girls saw their transition through marriage, which typically occurred between the ages of fifteen and eighteen.

Once her family had chosen a suitable husband, the bride underwent purification rituals and participated in a wedding feast, after which she moved permanently into her husband’s home.

Priests bound the garments of bride and groom together, which represented the joining of two families, and both sets of parents exchanged gifts to seal the union. 

Children who passed these thresholds gained new responsibilities and rights, but they also accepted lifelong obligations to their community, household gods, and family honour.

Although childhood involved labour, obedience, and preparation for future roles, Aztec children also played games that were based upon cultural traditions and helped develop useful skills.

Play was treated as a way to build physical endurance and improve both coordination and memory. 

Children played patolli, a board game that used painted squares as a board, beans as markers and dice to move along a path representing fate and fortune.

Adults gambled on the outcome, but children learned strategy and probability by watching and imitating.

Another game, tlachtli, was played on stone courts with a rubber ball that players struck with their hips to keep it aloft.

Although professional matches took place between trained athletes, children often recreated simplified versions in alleys or village yards.

The courts, commonly shaped like an uppercase "I," represented the cosmic struggle between light and darkness. 

Toy-making was common, and children made figurines out of clay, wood or maize husks.

Boys carved animals, soldiers, or tools to use in imaginary battles or hunting scenes, while girls fashioned dolls, miniature looms, and pretend food for household games.

These toys were a reflection of adult life. Other popular games included chicotl, a whip-top spinning game, and oyoatl, a hoop-and-stick contest that help developed dexterity and rhythm. 

Outdoor games included wrestling, running races, and contests of skill using stones, slings, or sticks.

These physical activities developed strength and endurance, which boys needed for warfare and girls needed for the demanding labour of daily life.

In the Aztec world, Children lacked rights in the modern sense and existed within a framework of duties and protections that reinforced their role in society.

Parents bore full responsibility for the behaviour and instruction of their children, and households that failed to raise obedient offspring could suffer disgrace and punishment from the wider community. 

Parents did not indulge disobedience, and punishments for laziness or rudeness ranged from scoldings and physical tasks to severe corrections, including cutting the scalp and either tying the child in public or holding them over smoke.

These punishments, mentioned in sources such as the Florentine Codex, showed the value placed on discipline, though historians debate how commonly they were applied. 

During certain festivals such as Tlacaxipehualiztli and Etzalcualiztli, priests selected young boys or girls as sacrificial victims to appease gods such as Tlaloc, who governed rain and agriculture.

These sacrifices, which occurred more regularly than previously assumed, were believed to bring balance and blessings to the community.

Chosen children were dressed in ceremonial garments styled after Tlaloc and were treated as divine messengers.

Parents who gave up their child often received great honour.