The family perro wearing a sombrero? Must be Cinco de Mayo!

This year, you can let May 5^th be just another spring day, or you can make Cinco de Mayo a day of fun and learning for your niños! Together you can explore Mexican culture, learn a little history, sing, dance, try some tasty South-of-the-Border treats, and even impress your kids with your high school Spanish. Sound good? Vamonos! Let’s go!

A little history

Cinco de Mayo commemorates the Mexican victory over the French in the Battle of Puebla in 1862. A small Mexican army of 2,000 poorly-equipped soldiers defeated an army of 6,000 French invaders, who were backed by Napolean III. This unlikely victory became a great source of national pride. Over the years, Cinco de Mayo has become less about that specific battle, and more of a celebration of Mexican culture in general.

Música with maracas

Music makes a fun introduction to any culture or country, and that’s especially true for Mexico. This cute animated clip pairs the traditional Mexican Hat Dance tune with new, kid-friendly lyrics.

In the video, they sing about shaking maracas, which you can easily make for your kids. Just take plastic eggs left over from Easter, pour in some dried beans, rice, or popcorn kernels. Glue the two halves of each egg together and start shaking! To make an optional handle, place 2 plastic spoons around each egg. Wrap colorful washi tape around the backs of the 2 spoons with the egg inside, then keep wrapping all the way down to secure. Your kids will be all set to keep time with the song!

Mariachi and más

Ready for a song that’s a bit more auténtico? Most Cinco de Mayo festivals feature strolling street musicians known as mariachi bands. Kids can learn all about their instruments in this charming animated clip.

Want more music? Play the Mexican Children (Children’s) Radio station on Pandoraand enjoy sweet, folksy songs in Spanish, sung by adults and kids.

Say it in Spanish

Tired of reminding your kids to say “please” and “thank you”? You might have better luck getting them to say “por favor” and “gracias,” if only because of the novelty! A nap is so boring, but a “siesta” might sound tempting. It’s easy to Google Spanish phrases online to share with your kids. Then they can brighten everyone’s day with a cheerful “buenos dias,” and introduce themselves with a “me llamo _____” (my name is____). Or teach your preschooler 3 or 4 nouns in Spanish today, ideally tangible things you can point to, like perro (dog), gato (cat), sombrero (hat), zapatos (shoes), sol (sun), or luna (moon).

By the numbers

Thanks to TV shows like Sesame Street, many preschoolers can count to 10 in Spanish, rapidly rattling off, “uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez!” But how well can your kids use these números? Challenge your family to use only Spanish numbers on Cinco de Mayo. You can start the day with a refresher, counting together on your fingers. Then ask questions like “How many pancakes do you want?” and “How many years old are you?” You can also grab a pair of dice, roll them, and see who can shout out the sum first. (Once is 11 and doce is 12.) Your kids will be drilling language and math while they’re having fun! You can even play Uno and have each player say the number of the card they are playing in Spanish for a fun twist.

Delicioso desserts

You may already be thinking of making Cinco de Mayo a taco night. But what’s for dessert? We have 3 festive ideas. Your kids may be surprised to learn that chocolate originally comes from Mexico, where it was enjoyed as a drink for many thousands of years. You can make a kid-friendly version of Mexican hot chocolate by adding a dash of cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg to your favorite hot chocolate. It’s delicious served with these super easy, baked churros. See how they’re made on YouTube. 

(Try dipping the churros in the hot chocolate for a double dose of cinnamon bliss!) Or go for something light and cool with tri-color gelatin parfaits in honor of the Mexican flag. Your kids can help layer lime green gelatin into a tall glass, add a generous dollop of white whipped cream, then top with any flavor of red gelatin.

Libros, libros, libros!

Head to your local biblioteca to check out some of the vibrant and creative books for kids about different aspects of Mexican culture. New in 2017 is Lucia the Luchadora, by Cynthia Leonor Garza, about a girl who learns she comes from a line of traditional masked wrestlers. What Can You Do with a Paleta, by Carmen Tafolla, was inspired by the frozen treats sold in the barrio from little carts with tinkling bells. As kids will find out by reading the text in both English and Spanish, you can eat a paleta, draw with it, share it, and much more! Charming illustrations make Cinco de Mouse-O a delight for kids of all ages. Written by Judy Cox in English, with some Spanish words, the book follows a mouse as he explores a Cinco de Mayo celebration. The tiny hero is determined to get a piece of candy from the piñata, which keeps the story moving forward.

Make a mini piñata

Finally, you and your kids can create your own mini piñata from everyday items like cereal boxes and sticky notes. Our piñata is designed with a trap door, so no baby burros will be harmed when releasing the treats inside!

Try a few of the ideas here and soon Cinco de Mayo will become a fun family tradition and fantástico learning opportunity. 

Learning is Where We Play:

There are so many things to love on Valentine’s Day…including math! Turn all those tasty Valentine’s treats into a fun math lesson and help your kids practice sorting, matching, adding, subtracting, graphing, and more!

1. Candy Heart Estimation

Dump a box of candy hearts into a bowl. Ask your mini mathematician to guess how many hearts they think are there.

2. Candy Heart Count Out Loud

Count the hearts out together, one by one, and see how close your child’s guess was.

3. Candy Heart Color Sort

Ask your little one to sort the hearts out into piles by color. Have them estimate how many pink hearts there are, then count them out together. Try another color, keeping the last correct number in mind, and see if your little one can get closer. Note each correct answer on a sheet of paper.

4. Candy Heart Bar Graph

Now that your hearts are sorted by color and each pile is counted, create an easy bar graph! List the colors on the bottom and the numbers along the side and have your kiddo color each bar to match the number you counted.

5. Candy Hearts Greater Than

Looking at your sorted colors, totals, and bar graph, ask your little one which pile is the biggest. Then ask which is the smallest. Now try asking whether you have more of one color than another.

6. Skittles Shapes

Draw a circle, square, and triangle on a sheet of paper. Then have your candy-loving kiddo place Skittles or colored M & Ms along the lines to trace the shapes. Next, see if your little one can create the shapes on their own, without your drawings to trace.

7. Skittles Patterns

Create a simple pattern out of differently colored Skittles, then see if your child can copy the pattern on their own. Start with a simple alternating pattern, then try something trickier.

8. Skittles Addition

Create your own mouth-watering worksheet by drawing five large circles on a sheet of paper and adding small squares at the bottom of each. Write the name of a Skittle color in each, then place a few of each color in the appropriate circle. Have your kiddo count them up and write the total in each box. Next, challenge them to add one color to another, recounting as a total if need be.

9. Skittles Fair Shares

Count your pile of Skittles, then write down the total. Introduce simple division by asking your child to divvy up their pile of Skittles among the two of you, handing one to you, then one to themselves, until the pile is gone (if you have any uneven leftovers, eat them!). Then count your piles. That total is the total number of Skittles, divided by two! Gather them all up again, then divvy them again, among a few stuffed animals.

10. Candy Construction

Keep the candy learning going all year long, with Learning Resources’ Candy Construction! Kids use candy-shaped pieces to build everything from a Sweet Swing to a Candy Cottage and more, practicing important math and STEM skills along the way! Making math fun by incorporating it into everyday activities (and including tasty treats) is a great way to build your kids’ math confidence, which will serve them well at school. These activities are also a wonderful way to build the foundational math skills kids will need to succeed. Explore more ways to count numbers with Learning resources numbers and counting toys!

The holidays are just around the corner so the time is ticking on getting all your holiday shopping done! It can be a little overwhelming to think of and find the latest holiday gifts and gadgets for kids. That’s why we’ve wrapped up, quite literally, some of the best holiday finds for your little loved ones! These gifts are STEM inspired and are for our little science, technology, engineering, and math lovers. New to STEM? These are also perfect for peaking interests!

Below you’ll find six of the most well (teacher) recommended and kid approved STEM toys. An age suggestion and description will help you find just the right one and the price is listed to ensure it fits within your budget!

1. Botley® 2.0 the Coding Robot (ages 5-10)- $64.99 and Botley® the Crashin' Construction Accessory Set (ages 5-10)- $16.99

Botley 2.0 the Coding Robot is perfect for introducing littles to future careers, supporting imaginative play and boosting critical thinking and problem-solving skills.  Botley helps kids as young as 5 learn to code. Kids can code Botley to move in six directions, play music, and even put on a light show! You can even test your memory with the lights and sounds of a game of Botley Says. Your little coders can build coding sequences of up to 150 steps, and go on adventures with a built-in sensor that lights up Botley in the dark! 

Nothing says engaging kids better than a crashin', bashin' set of STEM challenges! The worlds of coding and construction collide in the Botley Crashin' Construction Challenge. The world of construction comes alive as little builders can turn Botley into a wrecking ball or tow truck with the moveable crane attachment, or snap on the adjustable plow arms and send Botley on bulldozer adventures! This set includes six STEM challenges to get kids started—build up block structures, then code Botley to knock them down, clean up the mess, or tow them with the hook and cable!

2. Gears! Gears! Gears!® CastleGears™ (ages 4-9)- $14.99 

Bring the magic of castle making alive and the perfect twist on building critical thinking skills using the Gears! Gears! Gears! Castle Gears set. This building kit includes 38 pieces and an activity guide. It allows little engineers to create an almost endless combination of castles that actually move for their imaginative play. The gear pieces snap together easily so it’s perfect for little hands and developing fine motor skills. Let your little budding engineer’s imagination soar!

3. City Engineering & Design Building Set (ages 5-8)- $24.99

The City Engineering & Design Building Set brings STEM learning to new heights! Your little engineers can create their own skyscrapers, cranes, bridges and more with 89 easy-to-assemble pieces. Use the included activity cards to complete design challenges, or create your own city. It's a unique way to challenge logic, problem solving, and engineering skills.

4. Botley® the Coding Robot Action Challenge Accessory Set (ages 5-10) $19.99

Explore the world of force and motion by helping Botley set off some crashing chain reactions with Botley the Coding Robot Action Challenge Accessory Set from Learning Resources. This interactive 41-piece accessory setcontains everything kids need to set up STEM-inspired obstacle challenges for Botley to navigate. Kids can either choose to use the instructions inside the set to create 9 obstacle challenges filled with falling dominos, rolling balls, and swinging hammers, or design their own courses using critical thinking skills. Once everything's in place, kids simply code Botley with the desired steps, press transmit on the remote programmer, and watch him get things moving!

5. 1-2-3 Build It!™ Robot Factory (ages 2-6)- $14.99

Foster critical thinking and early engineering skills with the 1-2-3 Build It! Robot Factory. Kids can build their own twisting, turning STEM creations with the mix-and-match pieces of the 1-2-3 Build It! Robot Factory. Sized just right for little hands, this build-it-yourself toy's chunky plastic pieces are ready to help kids design, build, and tinker with their own robot squad. Use the design guide to practice following directions or bring your own creations to real life! 

6. Code & Go® Robot Mouse Activity Set (ages 4-9)-$59.99

Kids will absolutely LOVE this activity set! They can build their own maze, and then use the coding cards to create a step-by-step path for Colby, the Programmable Robot Mouse. Program the sequence of steps, and then watch Colby race to find the cheese! This set includes 30 double-sided coding cards, 10 double-sided activity cards, cheese wedge, and Activity Guide to provide the perfect hands-on introduction to coding concepts. Create your path with 16 maze grids to create a 20' x 20' maze board, 22 maze walls, and 3 tunnels for endless possibilities. Colby lights-up, makes sounds, and features 2 speeds along with colorful buttons to match coding cards for easy programming and sequencing. I suggest if you have multiple children, you consider adding additional players with Jack, the Programmable Robot Mouse, sold separately.