Cinco de Mayo
Amber Money
I am excited to celebrate Cinco de Mayo next week on Facebook Live this Tuesday, May 5th at 6 pm with you and your family. I wanted to go over the history of the holiday beforehand because there are often misconceptions about why it is celebrated in the United States. The 5th of May celebrates the victory at the Battle of Puebla in Mexico against the French army in 1862. However, this is not widely celebrated in Mexico. The holiday became popularized in the United States through the Chicano movement in the 1960s as a way to celebrate Mexican culture. If you are interested in learning more about the holiday and its history you can visit https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/cinco-de-mayo.
To prepare for the Facebook Live I have included a map of North America and a coloring page of the Mexican flag so you can show your little one where Mexico is and have them color in the flag beforehand.
Since Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of Mexican culture, I wanted to use this as an opportunity to celebrate and learn about Selena Quintanilla, a Tejano singer, and Frida Kahlo, a Mexican painter. I will be reading bilingual board books from Lil Libros and they have created coloring sheets and worksheets to accompany their stories.
If you would like to decorate for Cinco de Mayo a fun activity for children who are practicing their scissor work is making papel picado. You will need either colored tissue paper or colored paper.