Latino Arts & Crafts for Children

"Every child is an artist.
The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up."

~ Pablo Picasso

I’ve been cruising through the web for a while trying to find Latino-inspired art projects for children to brighten up a rainy day. Let me tell you…it’s hard! The hardest part was trying to find projects that represent the variety of Latino cultures found throughout the world. Most of the activities seem to be centered around Mexican traditions (which is great and I’ve included them below) but I also wanted to find projects that reflect the diversity of our cultures.
So here for your creative pleasure, I’ve listed the art projects that I have found so far. I would REALLY welcome comments or links directing me to more so that we can somehow combine them all in one easy-to-find location. And to all you mamis out there…happy crafting!


SPAIN, MEXICO: TeachKidsArt.blogspot.com has some wonderful, fantastic art projects for children and their families. The whole blog is a mother’s delight if she is trying to nurture her child’s creative spirit. She also has some great posts dedicated to the artist, Pablo Picasso.

I was amazed to find out that as a teenager, he had mastered the ability to paint realistically like Renaissance painter Raphael. Can you believe he painted the top picture on the right? It is his mother, Maria Picasso Lopez. Hard to imagine, I know, considering what he is best known for is this abstract style picture on the bottom, Dora Maar Au Chat - which, incidentally, sold recently for over $95 million! ¡Que locura! I mean - Why?!?

In addition to interesting tidbits about his life, you’ll also find a few art projects to teach your children about this complex master artist.

You’ll also find a project based on Mexican Painter, Frida Kahlo.

And you should also check out this Mexican Bark Painting project that is perfect for children of any age.


PANAMA: From the islands of Panama comes the inspiration for this project: Mola Art.
KidsArt.com hasn’t posted many projects recently, but if you dig through their entries you’ll find some other fun stuff, too.
You can find another project and some great lesson plans for more Mola art here.


GUATEMALA, MEXICO: How cute is this Quetzal bird crafted from a toilet paper tube? This a great opportunity to talk about how the Quetzal is the national bird of Guatemala and though it is found in many countries throughout North (if you include Mexico), Central and South America, it’s numbers are dwindling. You can find out more information about this fascinating bird here. animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/birds/quetzal.html

PUERTO RICO: Here are a bunch of crafts related to Puerto Rico, including a section on el coquí with froggy crafts for the kids to make. Lots of different frog projects that don’t seem very Latino-oriented per se, but the key is tying in the legend of el coquí.

URUGUAY, MEXICO, BRAZIL: I was totally delighted to stumble upon Ms. Evard’s Art Portal. She’s a teacher in Albany and let me tell you…I would have LOVED to have had her for an art teacher when I was a kid! She REALLY loves art – it is obvious by the way she introduces her students to art from all over the world. Such fantastic ideas! I really encourage you to look through her site. You’ll be inspired! Specifically, check out her second grade projects which include Joaquín Torres García Self-Portraits, Round Weaving, Mexican Talavera Suns, and Rodrigo Godá Good Bugs.


MEXICO: Without a doubt my favorite site is ArtistsHelpingChildren.org which lists a ton of projects for making not only piñatas and papel picado, but a whole section on Cinco de Mayo crafts that includes alebrijes, bark paintings, cascarones, banderas, guitarras, tissue paper flowers, castanets, lucha masks, maracas, mosaics, ponchos, rebozos, milagros and much, much more. And this is just the Latino section! The site is huge and goes on and on with activities and projects for kids. I give it 5 estrellitas.



KinderArt has this really neat project for making Aztec Tiles. This project is for older kids who will learn about Pre-Columbian art as they discover the Aztecs, Mayans and Incas. They also include links for suggested reading.




Unfortunately, there are very few books dedicated to Latino inspired art and crafts. However, the Latin Baby Book Club has a small section of books about Latino arts and crafts and they are always adding more...

New Products for Latino Toddlers

If you haven't visited the Latin Baby boutique lately, head on over there and check out a few of our newest products!

For all you mamás of toddlers, check out our two newest T-shirt designs.
If you have a rambunctious little boy in your life, why not get him a tee that sums it up? "Chiquito...pero picoso!"
And for those sweet little nenas, don't miss our adorable tee: "Chiquita Bonita"
Both shirts are embroidered and come in sizes: 2T. 4T. and 6T.

For more details, click here.

To commemorate the historic event of our first Latina Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor, Latin Baby has come out with a limited edition bib, "Wise Latina in Training." The bib comes with the words printed in hot pink, except for the word "wise" which is embroidered in a sagacious purple.

To see this and our other bib styles, click here.

We also have the most beautiful sweaters from Peru in our shop. Handmade, each sweater is a one-of-a-kind piece that your child will love and cherish. With hand-appliquéd images of nature and wildlife, your child will be delighted to wear one of these beautiful sweaters!Each style is available in one size only.

For a closer look at all three styles, please click here.

Latino Baby Shower Cake Toppers

Over the last couple of years, we have repeatedly received requests for cake toppers. After doing some research on-line, we were terribly disappointed to find that very few Latino-themed cake toppers were available for purchase. Most of the ones we found were of Dora and Diego or Maya and Miguel. Cute, but a little too casual and lacking in the beauty and elegance that this momentous occasion deserves.

So it is with greatest pleasure that I now announce that Latino baby shower cake toppers are now available at Latin Baby! These handmade ceramic figurines are a beautiful way to decorate your cake or as a centerpiece to your table. The perfect regalito for any mami-to-be, these figurines also make a wonderful keepsake for mamá to treasure.

To check out our complete line, visit the Latin Baby boutique here.

Spanish Scrapbooking, Fashion and Activities

So sorry to have neglected this poor little blog the last few weeks. I got hit with pneumonia two weeks ago and have been recuperating.

However, I have a few new products and web sites that some of you may find interesting….

First of all, I was excited to see that some scrapbook companies are finally starting to develop products in Spanish. There were several that I came across, but the one that really stands out is ArteLatínOh. Founded by two hermanas of Dominican Republic heritage, ArteLatínOh draws upon their Hispanic culture and traditions to create a full range of scrapbooking, rubberstamping and paper crafting products that reflect the warmth of the Latin culture. Their colorful web store offers albums, paper collections, rubber stamps, stickers, papercraft kits and much more. You can check out their great site here.

For those of you looking for unique handmade clothing, I stumbled upon Mani Mina on etsy. The picture on the right is a spring version of her "Mango Dress" from Mani Mina’s winter collection. Isn’t it adorable? I love the little button on the back and the rich color. She has a number of beautiful handmade products for sale in her store. You can check out Mani Mina’s shop here.

For older kids, I have found KinderArt.com. They have several lessons/activities for a range of ages, but the one that I really liked was on Mesoamerican Codex Books. The goal of the activity is to teach students about Ancient Mesoamericans using social studies to create a piece of historical art. It teaches how ancient cultures used visual art as a means of communication and kids create their own book with Mesoamerican glyphs and designs using paint in the traditional Mesoamerican colors. A really neat resource for homeschooling moms especially, but a great activity for kids this summer, too. Check it out here.

Simple, Handmade Party Piñata for Kids

Yikes! Sorry this blog has been a little neglected. So much going on - I'm drowning over here! Latin Baby is sucking the life outta me and the LBBC has so much going on right now. Not to mention family trips, house projects and my daughter's birthday.

La niña had the best time the last few weeks preparing for her cumpleaños. She fell in love with the Jungle Book story a few months ago and decided that she wanted a JB party. The last few weeks have been busy transforming our living and dining rooms into a jungle. We used up my entire stash of green construction paper to make leaves for vines and trees. It took so many leaves to transform our house that we started going cross-eyed and by the end, my daughter's colorful rainbow colored leaves had turned into mami's no-nonsense ones that were lucky to get a green vein drawn down the middle.

Since she is the daughter of one former zookeeper and one current bird curator, she has plenty of stuffed animals to decorate the house. Toucans were perched on our mantels and entertainment center; the previously mentioned vines had monkeys hanging from them; snakes, rabbits, frogs and lizards peeped out from around the couch, tables and chairs.

But the best moments of the party were definitely those of the piñata. Absolutely no child's birthday party is complete without one. We had the best (and worst) time making them last week. I was all "Oh, ja! No problema! Easy-peasy!"

PFTHT!

Chihuahua, I had the hardest time making the paper maché balls! Turns out, I don't think I put enough layers on mine and even though we made three, I made the mistake of putting them outside in our greenhouse to dry (away from little deditos, you know?) and it was too cold, so they didn't dry very well. Then, I had the brilliant idea to bring them in and put them on top of the floor vent to let the central heat blow them dry. "POP!" goes the first balloon and the paper maché with it. So I just put the next two close to the vent but not on top. They sorta dried, but not completely before my daughter’s piñata making girl friend arrived. While the kids got busy cutting tissue paper to decorate, I struggled to attach the star points. Long story, short (too late!) we finally reverted to the cardboard box method. There are advantages to having shipping boxes coming out of your ears. The girls had a blast gluing tissue all over the boxes and they went over wonderfully at the party! They may not have been the most beautiful piñatas ever made – but they were to my kids and their friends.

So I’ll share with you a few tips. If you’re ever in the need for a quick birthday piñata, all you need is a cardboard box, tissue paper in assorted colors, Elmer’s glue, a plastic lid (optional) and some tape.

- First, set your kids to work cutting little squares out of the tissue paper. They don’t have to be perfect, but each one should be roughly 2 inches square.
- While they’re doing that cut the tape holding the bottom of the box closed (if there is any.)
- Then squirt a dollop of glue onto a little plastic plate or plastic lid (for little kids it’s easier.) Take your square of tissue and wrap it around your index finger and dip it into the glue so that only a small dollop in the middle gets glue on it. Then put it on the box.
- Cover the entire surface of the box. You can do the bottom, but unless you have a place to hang it from until swinging time starts, any tissue on the bottom will probably get squished. You can add streamers from the bottom of the box, but they will be the first to go (as you can see in the picture!)
- We did two piñatas. For the first one, just use three or four pieces of Scotch tape to hold the bottom flaps closed. Add some newspaper to the bottom and add candy and/or small toys. This first piñata will give quicker and really get the little kids worked up for the second one.
- For the second one, hold the bottom flaps together with ONE piece of packing tape. You’ll be amazed how well this holds and it gives the kids plenty of whacking time.
- To hang it, an adult should use a pair of scissors to poke a little hole in the middle of each top flap, just a couple of inches down from the edge. Cut a short piece of rope about 12 inches long. Fold in, the other two flaps first, then partially close your hole-y flaps and run each end of your rope through the holes and make a knot to make like a purse strap. Now your piñata can easily be attached or removed from your main swing rope line that has been tossed over a high branch in your yard.
- After the kids have had several turns, let the parents in on the action. I’ve never seen so many gringos having such a good time!
- Keep all kids well clear of the area. Even if the box opens and spews its contents, that dangerous, obsessive, little kid with the stick will still whack away. Trust me. Even the kindest, sweetest children turn into swinging monsters once that stick gets in their hands!
- REMEMBER TO KEEP REMINDING THE SWINGER NOT TO LET GO OF THE BAT! M’ija did and it bounced off the head of one of her guests (fortunately she was pretty tough and didn’t so much as sniffle.)
- And lastly, after it’s all over, if you’ve got a giant paper mess in the yard, have a contest to see who can pick up the most paper (girls vs boys works nicely.) You’ll be amazed how a little friendly competition speeds up clean-up time.

For older kids, you can get a little more creative with your tissue paper and make strips of fringed tissue paper that you can carefully wrap around your piñata box in layers, possible alternating colors.

Now, I hope you have all found this giant post helpful!

~Monica

¿listas?! - are you ready?!

so, are you ready for that special day coming up? have you purchased those cute little valentine's for your kids to give out at school?... no!?...

no worries! i've got a little quick and simple project for you. if you have kids at home, i'm sure you have construction paper, glue, scissors and maybe even a hole punch. all you need to buy is a bag of lollipops! here are the instructions.

i made these for my son diego two years in a row and he loved them! we also got a lot of sweet compliments from the teachers :) i recommend making them with your kids, they love doing all the cutting and gluing! and it gives you a chance to spend some quality time with them as well.

till next time!
Claudia