Celebrating Cinco de Mayo

Photo Courtesy of Amazon Associates 

Background to share with children:  Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico's 
Independence Day, rather it is a day that celebrates a victory for Mexico against the French in 1862, on May 5th.  The French wanted to occupy Mexico while Americans, to the North, were fighting the Civil War.   If Mexico had lost to the French in Peubla, Mexico, than Mexico might have come under French control.  France would have assisted the South in the American Civil War, so the United States' future may have been different.  Their victory and change in the course of history is why Cinco de Mayo is celebrated by Mexicans  and Mexican Americans alike.  It is a special day to remember how important patriotism is for countries.

On May 5th, or Monday, celebrate Mexican heritage with one or more of these ideas:

• Listen to Spanish music from this Sesame Street video and watch the festivities.  Pandora is a music library found on tablets, smart phones and iPods.  Simply search for Spanish  music and a Spanish radio will pop up.  "Digo Si Señor (I say Yes my Lord)" is a lovely choice, found on Christian Music Pandora.

• The Mexican women wear colorful, flower covered dresses, and flowers in their hair, on this special day, especially at festivities.  Make simple tissue flowers, using green pipe cleaner craft sticks and tissue paper.  Fold three or four complimentary tissue sheets placed together, back and forth accordion style so the paper is about an inch wide when you're finished (it looks like a thick ruler). Fold the top of the craft pipe cleaner down about half an inch.  Slide the tissue paper under the fold of the craft pipe cleaner.  Tighten the fold around the tissue paper securely.  Cut the tips of the tissue ends round or pointed.  Open the tissue carefully separating the colors so they fan out to make a flower, then lift above the top of the "stem."  

•  Eat authentic Mexican food. Jessica Neve, a dear friend who teaches Spanish and has traveled to Mexico several times, suggests mole, fajitas or tacos al pastor.

•  Mexicans love the Virgin Mary. They owe it all to Juan Diego who had visions of Mary in the mid 1500s.  Mary instructed Diego to spread the Good News about Her Son to all of Mexico, and to have a Church built in his town, Guadalupe.  Read more about Juan Diego in Saint books or click on the following image: 

Little ones will love these fun sonsgs about Cinco de Mayo.  Visit,
http://www.theholidayzone.com/cinco/cinco-de-mayo-songs.html