Fun with Piñatas!

Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from September 15- October 15. The culture and language can be taught and celebrated in a variety of ways. One fun children’s activity is to make an authentic piñata. As an integrated activity, you can play the Pinata Concentration game to teach children Spanish. Also be sure to read the beautiful children's book El Piñatero/ The Piñata Maker by George Acona.





Piñatas are found at almost every Mexican celebration. Traditionally they were in the shape of a six-pointed star and were filled with fruit, candy, and small toys. Today you can find them in all shapes, including animals, flowers, and popular characters. At fiestas, the piñata are hung in the air and children are blindfolded and take turns swinging at the pinatas. Kids often sing “ dale, dale, dale no pierdas el tino, mira la pinata que hay en el camino. No quiero oro ni quiero plata, lo que yo quiero es romper la piñata.” Eventually, the piñata is hit hard enough and it breaks releasing the candy and toys that it contained.
Making an authentic piñata is a fun, interactive lesson you can do either at home or in a school setting. Bilingual Fun incorporates this cultural activity in our summer camps, as it takes a few days for each layer to dry. The kids love participating in the creation of the piñata and of course the culminating fiesta is worth all of the hard work.
• 3 cups water
• 2 cups flour
• 1 balloon
• Newspaper cut into long strips
• Colored tissue papaer
• String
1. Blow up a large balloon and tie the end
2. Mix the flour and water together until it makes a smooth paste
3. Cut the newspaper into long 1 inch thick strips and dip into the flour/water mixture
4. Carefully place the strips on the balloon until it is covered, leaving a hole at the top
5. Set aside and let the balloon dry
6. Place another layer of newspaper dipped in the mixture over the balloon and let dry
7. Repeat with one or two more layers, making sure you leave the hole at the top
8. When dry, pop the balloon with scissors point and remove the balloon
9. Cut small pieces of colored tissue
10. Scrunch the papers into little pieces and glue all over the piñata.
11. If desired, hang colored crepe paper from the sides and bottom
12. Punch 2 small holes in the top near the opening and string a large piece of string through the two holes
13. Fill your pinata (through the hole you left at the top) with candy, toys, or any other fun surprises.
14. Get ready for your FIESTA!

Hispanic Heritage Month Trivia

You may already be teaching your children Spanish and raising bilingual learners. Now, test your knowledge on Hispanic Heritage Trivia!

Take a quiz on Latin Entertainers

How is your knowledge of geography of Hispanic America?


Play concentration for fun vocabulary practice.

More fun trivia facts:

What event do Mexicans and Mexican-Americans celebrate on Sept. 16?
September 16 is Mexican Independence Day.

What are sikus, quenas, wankaras and charangos?
Andean musical instruments.

What three U.S. states are home to most Hispanic-owned businesses? California, Texas and Florida.

Who is the city of Galveston, Texas named after?
Marshall Bernardo de Galvez

What historic event is celebrated on May 5th (or Cinco de mayo)?
On May 5, 1862, Mexican forces defeated the invading soldiers of France at the Battle Of Puebla.

What is one of the accepted roots of the word Mariachi?
It is a variation of the French word mariage, meaning wedding or marriage; or that it comes from the name of the wood used to make the platform on which the performers danced to the music of the village musicians.

Would you like to make a pinata at home? Try this!

Spooky Spanish Fun

We hosted a Spooky Spanish Story time this morning at Borders. We had a great turnout with tons of parents and children having some bilingual fun with us! The instructors wore los sombreros de bruja and we told TPR ( total physical response) stories highlighting Spanish vocabulary. In addition,the children and parents sang a song about 10 Fantasmas ( ghosts), listened to the story of Dora and her search for a Halloween costume, and sang various songs about numbers.

Some of the Halloween words that we practiced were:
la bruja- witch
el fantasma- ghost
el gato negro- black cat
los dulces- candy
el chocolate- chocolate
la calabaza- pumpkin

As Hispanic Heritage month is coming to a close, we shared with our participants some of the many reasons to learn Spanish and celebrate the Hispanic culture in this country. With more than 28 million Spanish speakers in the US today, learning Spanish will certainly expand your child's world and prepare them for the global society. As we all know, young children easily have the ability to absorb and retain languages, thus the reason Bilingual Fun is so dedicated to providing early language instruction and promoting an awareness of the benefits of being bilingual.The Bilingual Fun instructors and their own bilingual children enjoyed hosting the community event and look forward to the next one we have planned!

Bilingual Fun in the Community

Bilingual Fun had a fantastic experience at a local International Festival! More than 20 different countries were represented with booths filled with cultural items, food, performances, and of course music and dancing. Our Spanish for children program represented Latin America as well as did an interactive performance on stage.

The Bilingual Fun instructors, along with their own bilingual children led the crowd in response chants, colors songs, freeze dancing, and Merengue dance lessons! A great time was had by everyone! At the Bilingual Fun booth, we shared with the community artesania, books, posters, Spanish for children DVDs and books, and music that represented Latin America. This was an excellent time to be sharing the culture as the country is also recognizing National Hispanic Heritage Month right now.

The community members were very interested in our language program and our curriculum that teaches parent/child Spanish classes. The Bilingual Fun team enjoyed promoting our passion for language education as well as our love for the Spanish speaking culture!

Fiesta!

In honor of National Hispanic Heritage month, Bilingual Fun hosted a Family Fiesta where guests enjoyed an afternoon of culture and fun. Families enjoyed group Spanish lessons, sampling of authenitic Mexican food, live cooking demos, and professional Latin dance presentations. We ended the afternoon with a dance party, with everyone dancing merengue and salsa! A lively atmosphere, with upbeat music, delicious burritos, quesadillas, and salsa and families learning Spanish together allowed community members to learn more about our country's Spanish speaking population. As a bilingual educator, teaching Spanish to children, I was proud that our event was able to showcase our unique program and to raise an awareness of early language instruction. With close to 200 hundred people attending our Fiesta, we were happy to benefit the Vistas Nuevas Head Start program, which serves the primarily Spanish speaking populuation of SW Detroit. Check out our fabulous participants! Mariachi Mexico Restaurant http://www.mariachimexican.com/, Dancers Amy and Ray http://www.themotorcitymilongueros.com/, Chef Brian Ramirez http://www.dininginpcs.com/, Matrix Human Services http://www.matrixhumanservices.com/.