DIY: Create Your Own Seven Spikes Christmas Piñata

Did you know that DIY projects have many benefits for kids? Well, you better believe it! First of all, you can entertain them for hours with a cool crafting project. On top of that, they’ll also improve their motor skills and their creativity, can develop problem-solving skills and even boost their confidence.

But wait, that’s not it! Crafting is also a great way for kids to acquire a new language and learn about a new culture! Yeah, we know it sounds crazy, but it’s true. And that’s exactly what we’re aiming to do in today’s blog. Plus, there’s no better season to do DIY projects than Christmas!

So, if you want to get your kids into the holiday spirit, spend time together and make them learn Spanish and Mexican culture, make your own Seven Spikes Christmas piñata.

History of the Seven Spikes Piñata

In Mexico, it’s very common to have piñatas (piñatas) in different celebrations, like birthdays, Christmas “posadas” and Christmas Eve. Piñatas can be of different figures, like a Barbie piñata or a superhero piñata.

But the seven spikes piñata (piñata de siete picos) is the traditional one for Christmas parties (posadas), Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

But why? Where does this tradition come from? Well, it all goes back to the Spanish conquest in Mexico. When the Augustinian friars asked the Pope Sixtus V to celebrate the “misas de aguinaldo” (aguinaldo masses).

These are masses that celebrate the nine-day journey that Maria and Jose made to Belen, when Maria was pregnant with baby Jesus. During these masses, they would use the piñatas. And it all worked as a way to evangelize people.

What does it represent? What’s the meaning behind using this piñata in these masses? The seven spikes (siete picos) represent the seven deadly sins.

The stick people use to hit the piñata and break it represents the virtue that breaks sins and temptations. And all the candies that go inside the piñata represent the wealth of heaven.

Fun fact: Did you know that piñatas used to be made of clay? But imagine if someone breaks a clay piñata today! It could hurt somebody! Thankfully, it has changed a lot, and we will show you now how to make one out of newspapers.

By the way, nowadays, not all people see the pinata in a religious way. Most people just see it as a cool way to celebrate the holidays.

Create Your Own Piñata de Siete Picos

What you’ll need:

• Scissors – Tijeras
• Newspaper – Periódico
• Balloons – Globos
• Tissue paper of many different colors – Papel china de diferentes colores
• Rope – Cuerda
• Cardboard – Cartulina
• Scotch tape – Cinta adhesiva
• Water – Agua
• Wheat flour – Harina de trigo
• Bowl – Tazón
• Paint brush – Brocha de pintura

First, we have to create the paste, called “engrudo” in Spanish. Don’t worry; this is very easy, so kids can absolutely help. For this you have to:

1. Put the flour in a bowl
2. Slowly, pour the water – make sure it’s hot – into the bowl. We recommend you do this step, so the kids don’t get burned with the water.
3. Stir with a spoon or a kitchen shovel until the flour and water are well mixed. When should you stop? When there’s a paste in the bowl, not too thick but not too liquid either. Make sure there are no lumps.

There you go! Now you have your “engrudo”.

It’s time for the piñata! For this part, you have to:

1. Blow up a balloon.
2. Break the newspaper in strips. They don’t have to be perfect, so you can easily cut it with your hands. This is a great assignment for the kids.
3. With the paste you made, pay the newspaper to the balloon. How? Put some paste on a strip of newspaper and put it on the balloon. Then do the same with another strip and so on. Once you have many, you can pass the brush with more paste over the newspaper on the balloon to strengthen it. Do it until the balloon is fully covered in newspaper.
4. Wait until it dries. You might have to wait a whole day.
5. When it’s dry, repeat step three. This is because for the piñata to be strong enough you’ll have to put at least five layers of newspaper on it.
6. Once it’s completely dry, prick the balloon so it bursts out. You’ll be left only with the newspaper in the form of the balloon with one big hole where the balloon’s knot used to be.
7. Make two small holes on the pinata, one to each side of the big hole. Nonetheless, make sure they’re not too close to the big hole. You can do this with the scissors. Just be careful not to break the piñata.
8. Put the rope or lace in the small holes.
9. Grab one cardboard and cut it in half. Make a cone with it and put some scotch tape on it so it’ll stick to its cone form.
10. The bottom of the cone will be a little unequal, just grab the scissors and cut it until it’s uniform.
11. Then, just cut small lines around the bottom of the cone, like fringes. Bend the fringes upward.
12. Cut the tip of the cones.
13. Repeat steps nine, ten, eleven and twelve to make a total of seven of these cones.
14. Now, grab the different tissue papers you bought, fold them in half, so they become colorful strips of around 8 cm of width.
15. Then, in one of the sides of the strips, cut some lines, not too long, so they look like fringes.
16. Just like you did with the cones, bend the fringes of the tissue paper strips upward. Be gentle so they don’t break.
17. Put some glue on a cone and start sticking the strips of tissue paper to the cone. The fringes of the paper facing upwards. Start sticking one strip at the top of the cone and go around it three times. If the strip of paper is still too long, after rounding the cone with it three times just cut the strip.
18. Grab a new strip of paper of another color and do the same; stick it below the other strip you just put on the cone.
19. Repeat steps 17 and 18 until your cone is full of these colorful strips of tissue paper. And do the same with all seven cones.
20. Let’s put some glue on the fringes of the cones and stick the cones to the round base of the piñata! You can put two cones on each side of the piñata, then one on the opposite side from where the big hole of the piñata is. Then glue the rest of the cones on the spaces left. Make sure they form a star. Do not cover the big hole of the piñata with one of the cones.
21. Now, grab a piece of tissue paper of any color and cut a width strip. Just like you did before, cut some fringes to one of the sides of the strip. Then make a circle with the strip. Put some scotch tape on it so it sticks in that circular form.
22. Once again, put some glue on the fringes so you can stick this tissue paper circle to the edges of the big hole in the piñata. This way, the hole doesn’t ruin the looks of the pinata by looking ugly. But make sure you don’t cover the hole. That’s why the paper goes on the edges of it, surrounding it, kind of like hiding it but no not covering it.
23. Let’s grab some more tissue paper! This one can be of many different colors or just one color. We recommend you let your kids pick their favorite colors. Cut the paper in small rectangles.
24. Grab one rectangle by one of the tips and fold it to the tip in front of it, so in a diagonal way. Now, it’ll look like a triangle. Then, fold it from one side to the other. It’ll still look like some sort of triangle. Put some glue at the bottom of it and glue it to the base of the piñata, where there still are some spaces left.
25. Now, cut strips of tissue paper of many different colors. They must measure around 8 cm, or as long as you wish, but just not too long.
26. Cut fringes in all the strips. These fringes must be long, from bottom to top. Just leave a space at the top of the strip without cutting.
27. Grab many strips and put them together. Now, put some glue in their tips, where we didn’t cut fringes. Remember how we had cut the tips of the cones way before? Well, now it’s time to glue these strips right there. Just glue them into the holes we cut to the tip of the cones. It will kind of look like the strips are coming out of the cones, like colorful fountains!
28. Repeat steps 25, 26 and 27 to put these strips on all seven cones.

There you have it! Your vibrant, colorful piñata is ready for the holiday season! Now all there is left to do is fill the piñata with candies. So when kids break it, they all can get some delicious sweets.

How to Teach Spanish to Your Kids During this DIY Project

Here are some tips to teach your kids Spanish while making your piñata together:

• Tell the story and meaning of the piñata in Spanish while you make it. They’ll be interested in it, will acquire Spanish vocabulary and will learn history from a new culture. Plus, how cool it is to know that your DIY it’s not just pure fun, but it also has a history behind it!
• Not just speak in Spanish when telling your kids the history of the piñata, but during the whole DIY. If your children don’t know a lot of Spanish, just say some words in that language every now and then. They can be words related to the project and piñatas.
• Ask them if they have questions and doubts about this DIY, piñatas, the Spanish language or Mexican culture. So you encourage them to speak in Spanish. Of course, to do this you have to create the rule of speaking in their target language.
• Throw a “posada” with their classmates and friends from their Spanish classes! You can also invite any Hispanic neighbors and family members you may have. Christmas parties are always so much fun. And if it’s one celebrating Hispanic cultures and breaking a piñata, kids will also acquire cultural and Spanish knowledge. Make the rule of speaking Spanish during the celebration, especially during the piñata.

Celebrate the Holidays Gifting Your Kids Spanish Classes with Us!

Do you want your kids to learn useful Spanish, improve their language skills and immerse in Hispanic cultures? This blog is just a small taste of all the amazing things they can learn at TruFluency Kids!

We offer Spanish immersion classes with native teachers. So you can be sure that everything they learn will be useful in real life.

But not only that. We also teach through all sorts of activities, because kids learn better when they’re having fun. With us, they’ll sing, cook and play games in Spanish!

You should also know our lessons are based on our Bellieu Method. This one is all about speaking in your target language using all you’ve learned.

This way, students will practice their speaking and improve their conversation skills. Soon, they’ll be the life of the Spanish Christmas parties, or should we say “posadas”?

Take a two-hour trial class now! Trial classes are composed of a small number of students, so everyone gets the attention they deserve.

With all these tools and benefits, the best gift for your kids this Christmas is TruFluency Kids Spanish lessons! They’ll love it and you won’t regret it.