Tissue Flowers (adapted from DLTK-kids.com)

Materials Needed:

• Tissue paper in a variety of colors• Pipe cleaner or yarn

Directions:

• Cut tissue paper into 6 inch squares.• Take four sheets of tissue paper and fold them like a fan (accordion style).• Tie in the center with yarn or wrap with a pipe cleaner to make a bouquet.• Pull apart the layers and fluff to shape.

Mini-Maracas

Mini-maracas work well as a rhythm instrument while singing and dancing to Spanish songs. Cheerios make the best filling, especially when working with babies and toddlers, since they are relatively harmless should the eggs be broken open.

Materials Needed:

• Plastic Easter eggs• Cheerios• Masking tape

Directions:

• Place about 15-20 Cheerios into a plastic Easter egg.• Seal with masking tape. (Colored masking tape, like painter’s tape, spices things

up a bit.)• Feel free to decorate with stickers or have the children decorate their own eggs.

Mini-P i ñ atas (taken from FamilyFun.com)

Materials Needed:

Directions:

1. Make a cut along the length of a toilet paper tube, then roll the cardboard into a cone and secure it with tape.

2. Roll the cone in two sheets of green tissue paper, taking care to fully cover the tip, and tape the tissue paper in place.

3. Remove the cardboard and fill the paper cone with small candies. (Tootsie Rolls work well.)

4. Tightly twist closed the top to create the chili's stem.

5. For the fringe, accordion-fold a 25-inch length of red paper streamer and cut slits ¼ inch apart along one side, stopping ¼ inch from the edge.

• Toilet paper tube• Paper streamer• Tissue paper

• Scissors • Glue stick

6. Unfold the streamer and place the chili's bottom point at one end of the fringe. Slowly wrap the fringe around the chili in a tight upward spiral, sticking it in place with a glue stick as you go. Trim any excess fringe and allow the glue to dry. Come fiesta time, partiers can simply tear the tissue paper to break open the piñata.

Papel Picado

Papel picado is a popular Mexican art form that is done by cutting intricate patterns or scenes in tissue paper. It is similar to the American tradition of making paper snowflakes during the winter season. Making Magic Windows: Creating Cut-Paper Art with Carmen Lomas Garza is a great resource when preparing for this craft. This book gives detailed background information and provides helpful papel picado patterns.

Materials Needed:

Directions:

• Fold tissue paper a number of times. It should be folded edge to edge, not corner to corner. For younger children, it is best to only fold the tissue paper a couple times so that it is easier for little hands to cut.

• Cut shapes from the paper, but don’t cut off any corners. This is so that you can preserve the rectangular shape of the paper. Experiment with straight, scalloped, or fringed edges.

• Unfold the tissue paper and fold over the top ¼ inch over a long piece of string and tape to make a pocket. Attach many pieces of papel picado for a festive decoration.

• Tissue paper• Scissors• Pattern sheets

• Yarn• Tape