Activities to Celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month In The Preschool Classroom by Stephany Springer

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	Activities to Celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month In The Preschool Classroom
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	Submitted Monday, September 08, 2008
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September is National Hispanic Heritage Month in the United States. There are some simple activities to recognize and bring the Hispanic Heritage into the classroom. Here are a few suggestions.

Teach your kids to count in Spanish
Preschoolers are like sponges and chances are most already know how to count to ten in Spanish just from watching Dora and Diego. Make this part of your circle time routine after practicing counting in English, follow with Spanish.

Add some color to your room
Place flags from various Hispanic countries on the walls of your room. You can find these by doing a search on the internet then printing them out in color or by creating them on butcher paper. Then hang streamers from the ceiling in red, green and blue.

Throw a fiesta
Preschoolers love parties and what better way to teach them about Hispanic Heritage then to throw a traditional fiesta. Play some Hispanic music. Serve traditional Hispanic food such as tamales on toothpicks, queso and chips. Have the parents each sign up for a dish. Be sure and include some sopapillas for dessert, but be careful with honey restrictions. Be sure and have a piñata for the kids to take turns hitting.

Make a Pinata Craft
Have the kids glue tissue pieces to a brown paper sack. Fill the sack with goodies. Glue streamers to the bottom of the sack. It is a very simple craft and the kids love it because they get to be messy with the glue and they get a bag of goodies to take home.

Take a siesta
A big part of a preschooler's day is naptime. Make naptime extra fun by telling the boys and girls they get to take a sista.

Have a parade
Pull out the sombreros and maracas for a parade around the school. Let the kids march and dance down the halls shaking their maracas and being loud. End the parade with a special snack of sombrero cookies. Give each child a sugar cookie and gumdrop. Let them use icing to "glue" the gumdrop on.

These are just a few suggestions. The key is to expose the kids to the Hispanic Heritage. Use bright colors, fun music and sneak in some Spanish words along the way. The kids will develop and appreciation to the culture with fun and exciting plans.

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» left by Jeff Brown ^(7,770)
Jeff Brown (62 days 8 hours ago.)

Stephany,

Thanks for the article. As my wife is from Colombia, as well as our 14 and 19 year old, this article hits home. My youngest, Mikie who's three and born in the US, watches Dora the Explorer and has picked up on Spanish along with that which he learns from his big brother and sister. And as far as the siesta goes, we do those on a regular basis. Interesting to note that more success gurus are suggesting a similar "rest time" should be added to everyone's daily schedule. My wife says Americans are too uptight anyway. She believes all the work and worry leads to disease, specifically cancer. According to doctors, stress is a major component to disease. Yes, there's a lot to be said for the Spanish culture. And since I'm Portuguese, I see a lot of similarities in our cultures. Lots of emphasis on family, rest, play, and living life to the fullest. Again, thanks for the article.

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» left by Robert Melaccio, Sr. ^(6,290)
Robert Melaccio, Sr. (61 days 22 hours ago.)

Stephany are you celebrating my heritage day as well and those of all ethnic groups and why only Hispanics? Do we not all count equally?

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» left by Anonymous (61 days 19 hours ago.)

this just so happens to be Hispanic heritage month, Hence the reason for the articel. Just like Black history and Just like Cinco de Mayo. If you dont see yours posted on a calendar stand up make a difference and do it yourself.

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» left by robert melaccio sr (61 days 19 hours ago.)

Stephany, this is not a personal issue with you. That isn't the point I am not adverse to celebrating any ethic festival or special day. We have Columbus and we do St. Patrick day, that is one day, but why does it always seem that we have to make an extra effort for Hispanic's? Stephany you know the answer why. Just like we are all now given a choice, Spanish or English. How about giving our kids a real choice as they did years ago not forced learning as they do now? As for the rest you know where I stand. If we are to be Americans it is about time we put that first regardless of where we came from or our ethic background. Is that not why they come to America? Ethic pride sure, but not forced upon all. So if you are going to then at least be fair. How about Viking month or German month American Indian month? I venture you will say not enough months to do them all. Exactly.

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» left by David from Nevada (43 days 17 hours ago.)

I can feel your strong feeling toward diversity. I feel that it is important to teach children about as much as possible. By doing so they will be more sensitive and educated about the world as a whole. And in regard to your comment about having a choice, the more educated the individual the more options he or she will have in order to make a more detailed decision.

FYI every person shows their patriotism in a different way. That is what makes us individuals in every sense of the word.

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» left by Anonymous (61 days 19 hours ago.)

Overall the article was ok. I guess if you really had no idea this would be a great way to start. But we need to keep in mind that Mexicans are not the only Hispanics here in the US. That activity targeted them more and kind of ruled out the rest of us. I have a home daycare and i make sure that we celebrate this month as well as everyother month. But I do have them count in spanish, we sing spanish songs, I have decorated with different flags. I also like to include other foods from other countries, not just Mexico. We have Puerto Ricacn food, Dominican food, Cuban, Salvadorian and so fourth. I have them color flags from Hispanic countries. We go online and look to see on a map to see where they are located. And if youc can get your hands on some of the fruit unique to these countries, they will absolutely love it!!! I wouldnt want for them to grow up thinking that all hispanics are Mexicans because I am Puerto Rican and up until I had joined the military I thought that everybody was Puertorican!! NOT GOOD!

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