Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of Mexican heritage, culture, and pride. This celebration occurs on May 5th every year to commemorate Mexico’s victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5th, 1862. This battle was significant because the Mexican Army was about half the size of the French and the Mexican Army was not as well equipped. This battle is also important because it is a wonderful example of the Mexican people unifying as one to defend and support their country. This victory is widely celebrated, mainly in the United States and Mexico, as a patriotic feast.
It is important to celebrate this holiday by learning and sharing authentic Mexican traditions and culture. Cinco de Mayo is popular for its parades with colorfully dressed dancers and singers, traditional Mexican folk music called mariachi, and indulging in traditional foods such as guacamole, flan and tres leches. Cinco de Mayo is commonly celebrated with parades, carnivals, and street fairs. However, due to COVID-19, you may not be able to attend these activities, so here are some fun ways of how to bring this celebration to your home!
Many of the popular foods that are eaten to represent this celebration of Mexico include guacamole, salsa, burritos, and tacos! Here is a recipe to create the best guacamole, so that your family can celebrate Cinco de Mayo by embracing the culture with traditional food!
There are many traditional activities that are completed on the holiday to represent the victory of the Mexican army. Many Mexican people decorate their homes with vivid colors to welcome the celebration. Paper flowers are a fun and easy decoration for any Cinco de Mayo fiesta. The flowers are an easy activity that you can complete with your kids because the supplies include items that you can find around your home! These flowers represent the traditional flowers that you may see at a Mexican restaurant, so you can educate your children about the history of the holiday as they experience this arts and crafts activity!
To embrace the traditional foods of the holiday as well as the Mexican culture of spending this holiday with your loved ones, a taco spinner game is an entertaining and convenient way for you to educate your children about the significance of Cinco de Mayo!
Lotería is a traditional and popular Mexican game that is played on Cinco de Mayo, similar to bingo, although it involves images on a deck of cards instead of numbers on ping pong balls. Every image has a name and an assigned number, but the number is usually ignored. Each player has at least one tabla, a board with a randomly created 4 x 4 grid of pictures with their corresponding name and number. If you do not have this game available to you at home but you would like to experience the Mexican traditions that are practiced on this holiday, you can create your own lotería that incorporates the values of Cinco de Mayo: culture, food, music, decor, and the history.
Cinco de Mayo is a wonderful celebration of the success and resilience of the Mexican army. We also enjoy the day because of the food that is eaten, music that is played and opportunity to spend time with loved ones. Many people believe that Cinco de Mayo is Mexico’s Independence Day, but it is not. We are not celebrating Mexico’s independence on this day; we are celebrating a victory.
We encourage you to host a Cinco de Mayo fiesta in your home by creating the paper flowers decorations, serve some tortilla chips with a side of guacamole, and listen to Mexican music. This is the best way to spend May 5th because you are supporting and embracing the traditions and culture of Mexico. Please consider sharing and tagging us in your social media posts if you do participate on the special day.
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