As a Spanish teacher, I always spend the week of Cinco de Mayo teaching my students about the holiday and allowing them to make piñatas. This year instead of paper maché we made paper bag piñatas. They were incredibly easy and gave us more time to learn about Mexican culture and make more crafts. We discussed the history of the sarapé (you might also know it as a poncho) and the sombrero. Then we made some for ourselves to wear during our fiesta! My students, who are ages 15-18 loved the activities and left with a better understanding of the holiday. I also brought the crafts and knowledge home for my kids who also loved them!
If you are one of those people that likes to throw the term "cultural appropriation" around in regards to Americans wearing sombreros on Cinco de Mayo, I have an opinion I'd like to share with you.
Sombreros and sarapés are a part of Mexican history. During the Battle of Puebla (The event that Cinco de Mayo celebrates.) Mexicans actually did wear sombreros and sarapés. Of course they are not part of the general attire now but, we, as Americans don't walk around in Pilgrim garb anymore either. However, we are not offended at Thanksgiving when children dress up like pilgrims. I think that if we teach our children how to respect others culture while learning about it that there is no harm in enjoying that culture. The act of making these items, putting time, effort and care into a project based on the culture of someone else can actually help you understand and appreciate that culture more. Just as with everything, be respectful and develop an understanding of the culture. Don't just steal it and mock it with stereotypical behavior.
If we are always worrying about offending someone by even bringing up the items labelled as "stereotypical" in someone's culture then we may never be able to become comfortable with them or understand them. Opening up the conversation and allowing children to explore and investigate is the only way for them to learn.
Ok, now, if you don't agree then you can stop reading since you probably think I'm a horrible person for making these crafts. Otherwise, keep on to learn how to make the crafts as well as get links to the information I used to teach my students about the holiday and Mexican culture.
If you are one of those people that likes to throw the term "cultural appropriation" around in regards to Americans wearing sombreros on Cinco de Mayo, I have an opinion I'd like to share with you.
Sombreros and sarapés are a part of Mexican history. During the Battle of Puebla (The event that Cinco de Mayo celebrates.) Mexicans actually did wear sombreros and sarapés. Of course they are not part of the general attire now but, we, as Americans don't walk around in Pilgrim garb anymore either. However, we are not offended at Thanksgiving when children dress up like pilgrims. I think that if we teach our children how to respect others culture while learning about it that there is no harm in enjoying that culture. The act of making these items, putting time, effort and care into a project based on the culture of someone else can actually help you understand and appreciate that culture more. Just as with everything, be respectful and develop an understanding of the culture. Don't just steal it and mock it with stereotypical behavior.
If we are always worrying about offending someone by even bringing up the items labelled as "stereotypical" in someone's culture then we may never be able to become comfortable with them or understand them. Opening up the conversation and allowing children to explore and investigate is the only way for them to learn.
Ok, now, if you don't agree then you can stop reading since you probably think I'm a horrible person for making these crafts. Otherwise, keep on to learn how to make the crafts as well as get links to the information I used to teach my students about the holiday and Mexican culture.
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Paper Bag Piñata
You will need:
- paper bag
- stapler
- string/ribbon
- hole punch
- glue
- tissue paper and/or streamers
- candy
1. Fill your bag with candy (not too much!) Then fold down the top and staple.
2. Decorate! Use whatever you like! My students got pretty creative and made things varying from a penguin to an emoji!
3. Punch a hole in the top and string it.
4. Bust it! With my students, we hung it in a tree outside of the school. For my kids I just held it out for them. You can also blind fold and spin the hitter for extra fun and cultural appropriateness.
If you want to learn about the art of making piñatas in Mexico you can watch this video.
You will need:
- paper bag
- stapler
- string/ribbon
- hole punch
- glue
- tissue paper and/or streamers
- candy
1. Fill your bag with candy (not too much!) Then fold down the top and staple.
2. Decorate! Use whatever you like! My students got pretty creative and made things varying from a penguin to an emoji!
3. Punch a hole in the top and string it.
4. Bust it! With my students, we hung it in a tree outside of the school. For my kids I just held it out for them. You can also blind fold and spin the hitter for extra fun and cultural appropriateness.
If you want to learn about the art of making piñatas in Mexico you can watch this video.
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Paper Sarapé
You will need:
- brown craft paper
- tissue paper and/or streamers
- glue
- crayons
- scissors
1. Cut a piece of craft paper that is the appropriate width for your torso.
2. Fold in half and cut a half circle. (This will be the neck hole.)
3. Decorate! Some students made a themed sarapé others simply decorated with streamers and tissue paper. Some even added paper flowers. My children used crayons to draw a pattern and color it in.
If you want to learn about the history of the sarapé you can read about it here.
You will need:
- brown craft paper
- tissue paper and/or streamers
- glue
- crayons
- scissors
1. Cut a piece of craft paper that is the appropriate width for your torso.
2. Fold in half and cut a half circle. (This will be the neck hole.)
3. Decorate! Some students made a themed sarapé others simply decorated with streamers and tissue paper. Some even added paper flowers. My children used crayons to draw a pattern and color it in.
If you want to learn about the history of the sarapé you can read about it here.
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Paper Plate Sombrero
You will need:
- paper plate (I used white to make it easier to decorate but you can use colored ones too.)
- paper cup
- hot glue
- string/ribbon
- hole punch
- streamers and/or tissue paper, ribbon etc.
1. Hot glue the cup to the plate. The lip of the cup will be glued to the top, center of the plate.
2. Decorate! Some students had streamers dangling down. Others made paper flowers or covered it in streamers and tissue paper.
3. Punch hole in either side and add a string.
If you would like to learn about the history of the sombrero click here.
Thanks for visiting!
You will need:
- paper plate (I used white to make it easier to decorate but you can use colored ones too.)
- paper cup
- hot glue
- string/ribbon
- hole punch
- streamers and/or tissue paper, ribbon etc.
1. Hot glue the cup to the plate. The lip of the cup will be glued to the top, center of the plate.
2. Decorate! Some students had streamers dangling down. Others made paper flowers or covered it in streamers and tissue paper.
3. Punch hole in either side and add a string.
If you would like to learn about the history of the sombrero click here.
Thanks for visiting!
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