Hispanic Heritage Month

In the United States Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from September 15th to October 15th. We started our activities on September 16th which happens to be Mexican Independence Day. We talked a little about it the day before but I was surprised at Diego's interest in the day. When he woke up on the 16th, I asked him what day it was, expecting him to say "school day." Instead he sat up and reminded me that it was "el día de la Independencia de México." He, of course, was correct and wanted to immediately start to make a flag of Mexico. So before breakfast he made this flag to take to school to show his teachers. I was particularly impressed that he remembered the eagle with the snake in its beak standing on a cactus. :)

Mateo, of course, had to get in on the action so we tried to make a torn paper flag, thinking that he would love to tear the paper. He was not very interested so the flag was never finished.

We read our favorite book about Mexico, Nos vamos a México several times. There is an English version as well called Let's Go to Mexico. I highly recommend it for preschoolers since the illustrations are beautiful and each page takes you on a journey through different parts of Mexico.

After reading the book, Diego searched the pages for symbols of Mexico to make a "pared de México" (Mexican wall.) One of Diego's favorite things is to make a "wall" of different things we are studying. Our house has become quite colorful.

Finally, we talked a lot about how much Mexico means to our family. We looked at maps and discussed that abuelo and abuela used to live in Mexico. I showed Diego the cities that I have visited in Mexico and we looked at pictures of my travels. Here I am on top of a pyramid outside of Mexico City while on a college trip.

I also pulled out the items in our house that came from family members and my travels around Mexico. Here Diego is posing with an onyx chessboard.
We tried to play "balero." Something that I am convinced I will never be able to do.
I think Diego's favorite part would be the fact that he learned that he has been to Mexico and not his little brother. I was three months pregnant with Diego when I took a group of high school students on a trip to Mexico. He will proudly tell you that he has been to the top of a pyramid but he couldn't see anything. :)