Ulama, Stories and Curiosity: A Summer Workshop at IBBY México.

During her Mexico tour, Laura Elena Rodríguez Garcidueñas had the opportunity to join a very special summer workshop at IBBY México, after being invited by Dany Metzcoatl, who was leading activities to introduce children to Ulama.

The invitation was a natural continuation of the connection that had begun during the research for Juego de Pelota: Descubre sus secretos con La Catrina Bohemia. This time, however, Laura was not meeting Dany to ask questions for her book. She was joining him to share it with children.

Laura talked with the children about the book Juego de Pelota and La Catrina Bohemia. But the workshop was not about simply listening. Dany prepared a series of exercises. And then the children had the chance to teach Laura some of the Ulama techniques they had been learning themselves. That exchange made the morning especially fun: the children became teachers for a moment, sharing with Laura what they had learned from Dany.

The workshop continued with a challenge prepared by Laura. She invited the children to solve an riddle about the Mexican ballgame. They searched for clues and tried to decipher the answer.

For Parangueo Media, this was exactly the kind of encounter we hopes our books can inspire. Cultural heritage does not have to remain something distant or confined to history books. It can be explored through movement, questions, stories, games, and the curiosity of children.

The experience also highlighted another important part of Dany’s work. His role is not limited to practicing Ulama; he actively creates opportunities for children to encounter the tradition, learn about it, and experience it for themselves.

Being invited to share the book Juego de Pelota in a workshop where children were already learning Ulama from a player was particularly meaningful for Laura. The book and the game met in the same space, each offering a different way of discovering the same cultural heritage.

It was a morning of learning, playing, teaching—and a reminder that sometimes the best way to keep a tradition alive is simply to give children the opportunity to discover it for themselves.