The Maya did a lot more than make circular calendars and predict the end of the world. They also had an alphabet based on a group of pictures that scientists today call glyphs. These glyphs formed one of the most complicated systems of writing anywhere in the world. Some of the images stand for words or ideas; others represent syllables. Together they not only form a writing system but an elaborate and beautiful expression of stone-carved art. With a handful of craft supplies, your fourth grader can capture some of that artistic magic for his own room.