Cinco de Mayo for Kids: Its History + Activities and Crafts

The Mexican community in America counts for more than 10% of the total US population and almost two-thirds of all Latino Americans in the US. Their customs, traditions, and cultural heritage is a big part of America’s identity. For this reason, the incoming historical holiday is an amazing opportunity to teach students about Mexican history and its cultural characteristics. Plus, thanks to our activities and crafts on Cinco de Mayo for kids, you can also make learning fun. 

In this article, we’ll provide some essential information about Cinco de Mayo, we’ll briefly explore how this holiday is being celebrated in Mexico and the USA, then share five, fun ways in which you and your students can celebrate the holiday in the classroom or at home. 

Let’s dive in. 

The History of Cinco de Mayo

As the years pass, Cinco de Mayo has gained popularity in the US but remains a relatively small holiday in Mexico. The reason for this might be in its historical significance. 

Cinco de Mayo is observed every year on the 5th of May, which is the literal translation of the name from Spanish to English. It marks the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla where the  Mexican Army obtained victory over the French Empire in 1862. This victory was a significant boost for the Mexicans as they had a much smaller army. Unfortunately, their stroke of luck didn’t last long. One year later, the French Empire launched another attack. This time with a much stronger force, they defeated the Mexican Army and Mexico City was invaded. 

While the events of the late 1860s were not favorable for the Mexicans, the Battle of Puebla itself holds immense significance – both nationally and internationally. This is because it represented a great symbolic victory for the Mexican government back then and gave a lot of hope for the movement for independence. Some historians even argue that this boost in morale kept the Mexican resistance which resulted in France’s full withdrawal five years later, in 1867. Of course, this was also partially thanks to the support and help of the USA. 

Cinco De Mayo Celebrations

Considering its historical significance, it’s no surprise that Cinco de Mayo is a largely celebrated holiday. However, it’s a much bigger event in the USA within the Mexican-American community, rather than in Mexico itself. For instance, Cinco de Mayo is not a federal holiday in Mexico. 

Within Mexico, it’s celebrated in the state of Puebla where the actual battle occurred. Typically, military parades, festivals, and battle reenactments take place. But, the question that remains is why for most Mexicans Cinco de Mayo is just another regular day while there are big celebrations in the USA? 

The reasons for this are complex, but within the USA, Cinco de Mayo is mostly observed as a day of honoring Mexican culture and heritage, rather than a historical victory. 

According to history, it was Chicanas (another name for Mexican Americans) in the 1960s who popularized the holiday and spread awareness about Cinco de Mayo because they viewed it as liberation from the European invaders. So, in a way, for the Mexican Americans, this holiday represents a victory for the Indigenous Mexicans, which is why celebrating Mexican traditions, customs, and cultural heritage is a great way of honoring Cinco de Mayo. 

Cinco de Mayo for Kids: Activities and Crafts

Simply raising awareness about the traditional Mexican customs and teaching kids to respect and accept cultural diversity by showing them the beauty of this culture would be enough to honor Cinco de Mayo. But, that doesn’t mean that it’s still not a challenge to keep the children’s interest, especially if you want to include more than listening to traditional Mexican music and eat delicious food, such as tacos or poblano.  

Cinco de Mayo Sombrero and Maracas

To start off with the fun crafts, celebrate Cinco de Mayo with kids by teaching them how to make a DIY sombrero and maracas. With these, kids can sing and dance all day long. 

To make the sombrero, you’ll need markers, glue, elastic thread, small pom poms in different colors, a paper plate, and a plastic cup. On the other hand, for the maracas, you’ll need two surprise egg capsules, four plastic spoons, and colorful tape. 

The process itself is very easy. First, start by gluing the plastic cup in the middle of the paper plate. When it’s dry, use the markers to draw interesting Mexican-themed patterns all over the “hat.” Then, glue the pom poms on the edge of the paper plate around two inches apart. Finally, add two holes on the opposite sides of the edges of the hat and tie the elastic thread, which will go around the head of the child and secure the hat in place. 

Next, move over to the maracas. It’s best if you add very small rocks inside the surprise egg capsules or small pieces of anything that will make a noise when you close and shake them. Tape the egg capsules to make sure they don’t open. Once that’s done, take two spoons facing each other and place the egg capsule between them. Then, with the colorful tape, roll it over and over around both handles, to secure the spoons in place. Once you’re done, repeat the same procedure with the other egg capsule and you’ll end up with one sombrero and two maracas. 

Frida Kahlo’s Floral Headband

Frida is a Mexican icon and talented artist who remained an inspiration with her recognizable style even today. Part of her style was the floral bands that she wore in her head, honoring her Mexican heritage. 

So, how do you make floral bands for kids? 

You’ll need artificial flowers with wire stems, wire cutters, a simple plastic headband, and colorful adhesive tape. 

Start by preparing the flowers. Cut the stems around 3 cm from the head (you can make them longer, but don’t cut shorter than 3 cm or you’ll secure them tightly). Then, bend the stems to a right angle. Take your headband and start wrapping it with adhesive tape. When you reach near the top, start placing the flowers one by one on the headbang and tape over the bent stems. Repeat the same thing from the other side of the headbang, so you have a density of flowers on the top of the headband. 

DIY Mexican Poncho from Paper

We’ve shown you how to make sombreros and maracas, but the celebratory outfit won’t be complete without the legendary Mexican Poncho. 

Best of all, there’s an easy way to make a poncho from a paper bag, without worrying that you’ll need to teach kids how to sew. For this activity, you’ll only need a big paper bag (grocery bag worlds fine), scissors, paint, and a stapler. 

First, take the paper bag and lay it flat on the table. Then, cut the folds out, leaving only the front and back sides of the paper intact. Then, position the two pieces of paper one over another and cut out a neck hole – make sure it’s big enough. Next, tell your child to paint one side of each paper in fun Mexican-style patterns. Red, green, and yellow paints work great together. Finally, when the painting has dried out, staple the two sides of the paper where the shoulder would be to get a nice-looking poncho. 

Cinco de Mayo Worksheet Packs for Kids

All the above crafts are great, but to complete the class it’s best if you combine more educational activities, or alternatively, you can use these last two activities parallel to the crafts. Therefore, you can discuss the Cinco de Mayo worksheets or the information learned from them while making a sombrero. Doesn’t that sound fun? 

Here’s what we’re talking about. We’ve prepared a comprehensive worksheet pack for Cinco de Mayo containing key facts, celebration and traditions info, as well as 11 ready-to-use worksheets encompassing  word searches, word scramble games, guessing games, fact or bluff activities, and so much more.  

But, if you want your child to learn more about Mexican traditions, the following worksheet packs may also prove useful: 

• Mexico Facts & Worksheets
• Mexico City Facts & Worksheets
• Gulf of Mexico Facts & Worksheets
• The Mexican-American War Facts & Worksheets
• Cancún Facts & Worksheets
• Day of the Dead Facts & Worksheets (the biggest religious holiday in Mexico)

Cinco de Mayo Books for Kids

Apart from the worksheets, picture books for young children and educational books about the Mexican traditions and cultural heritage are always a great learning resource for holidays and events. 

Specifically for Cinco de Mayo, the following books are our top picks: 

• When Angels Sing, by Michael Mahin and Jose Ramirez
• Danza!: Amalia Hernández and Mexico’s Folkloric Ballet, by Duncan Tonatiuh
• Frida Kahlo: My First Frida Kahlo (Little People, BIG DREAMS), by Isabel Sanchez Vegara and Eng Gee Fan
• Marco’s Cinco de Mayo by Lisa Bullard
• Cinco de Mouse-O! by Judy Cox
• Max Celebrates Cinco de Mayo by Adria F. Worsham

Before You Leave

We hope that we showed you how interesting it can be to celebrate Cinco de Mayo for kids. Traditional Mexican music, dances, food, and other cultural characteristics are incredibly interesting and beautiful, which is why we’re sure that students of all ages will be intrigued to find out more and explore the culture further. 

While we already covered our teaching resources regarding this topic, if you and your students want to learn even more, feel free to browse our growing library on our main website, where we’re sure you’ll find other useful worksheet packs. 

And yet another useful source of inspiration is our blog, where we share guides such as this one with many ideas on playful and memorable events that teach students essential life skills.