Lantern Craft and the Faroles of Costa Rica: Hispanic Heritage Month Blog Hop

This post is part of the Second Annual Hispanic Heritage Month Blog Hop and Giveaway, organized by Multicultural Kid Blogs (see details below).

Every September, all over Costa Rica, schoolchildren (and their parents!) work hard making lanterns to celebrate Costa Rican Independence Day on September 15.  These homemade lanterns are true works of art, often made in the form of national symbols such as the carreta (wagon), the guaria morada (the national flower, a type of orchid), and the flag.

Once their creations are completed, the children carry them in the parades that take place all over the country.  This desfile de faroles is an integral part of the independence day celebrations.  The lanterns pay homage to the woman in Guatemala who, legend has it, ran through the streets carrying a lantern to gather people to call for independence from Spain.  (At the time Costa Rica was a province within the Captaincy General of Guatemala, which included all of Central America, with the exception of Panama).

Here is one beautiful example of a farol from La Nación newspaper.  The Tico Times has wonderful photos of faroles from last year’s parades on their Facebook page.

My husband’s niece was also kind enough to send me photos of her son’s farol this year, as well as one from his classmate.

A carreta

The Children’s Museum in San José

I love this tradition, so I thought it would be fun to make lanterns this year with Monkey.  While ours are nothing like the elaborate faroles in Costa Rica, we had a lot of fun making them.

First I took toilet paper rolls and cut a little door in each.  Then I helped Monkey punch designs in them (hearts, stars, etc.)

After that came the most fun part – painting!  It would have been much more patriotic of us to paint them red, white, and blue like the Costa Rican flag, but I let Monkey choose the colors – green for him and pink for me.  (You will notice as you read on that only the pink lantern survived until the end.  The green one was smashed by aliens partway through, or so Monkey informed me later).

After the paint dried, I glued a piece of blue construction paper inside the surviving lantern, to represent the “light” coming through the designs we had punched in the lantern earlier.

For effect, I also drew a little candle inside.  (I had no intention of letting my three year old play with candles, and besides a toilet paper roll is not big enough to use a candle with anyway).

Finally, we glued on the top and handle, which I had cut up from a cereal box earlier.

What fun!  If the lantern survives until this evening we might just have our own parade 🙂

Welcome to the Second Annual Hispanic Heritage Month Blog Hop, hosted this year by Multicultural Kid Blogs and 15 of our member blogs!

Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15 to October 15 every year, “celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America” (from HispanicHeritageMonth.gov)

Be sure to visit all of the participating blogs (listed below) and follow our related Pinterest boards:

• Teaching Spanish
• North America
• Central America & The Caribbean
• South America
• Day of the Dead

You can also follow my Pinterest board De Colores: Hispanic Heritage and Latin America.

Enter to Win

This year to celebrate we are giving away fabulous prizes! You can enter two ways:

1) Link up a post in the linky at the bottom of this post (each post will count as an entry)

2) Make a comment on the main Hispanic Heritage Month Blog Hop post on the Multicultural Kid Blogs page answering the question, “How do you celebrate your heritage with your children?”

Our Prizes

Please note that there are shipping restrictions on some prizes. In the event that the winner lives outside of the shipping area, that portion of the prize will be added to the following prize package.

Grand Prize Package

Annual subscription (print and digital) to one of the following children’s magazines (winner’s choice!): Babybug, Ladybug, or Ask en espanol (available at the end of September) or Iguana ($51.90 value). International winners will receive a digital subscription.

Two Spanish activity books with games and exercises to review basic concepts, a card game that teaches wild animals in Spanish and English, two ceramic Day of the Dead skulls, and several small wooden toys.

A Child’s Life In The Andes is a 35 page e-book that brings the culture of this historic region alive through rich photographs, kid-friendly information as well as 3 children’s activities, 8 coloring pages, 2 language pages and a word search that features new vocabulary.

Cancioncitas De Los Andes/Little Songs Of The Andes from Daria is a digital CD sharing authentic music from the Andes performed on traditional instruments. The CD includes the most famous song from that region; El Condor Pasa, along with 5 other songs from this historic area of the world.

Sofía en una Aventura por la Selva from Kids Yoga Stories: Fly like a toucan, slither like a snake, and flutter like a butterfly as you act out this journey through a Costa Rican jungle. What else might you see? The storybook includes a List of Kids Yoga Poses and a Parent-Teacher Guide.

First Prize Package

Annual subscription (print and digital) to a children’s magazine from Cricket. See details above.

Smart Play Pad (SRP $ 24.99): Interactive tablet like electronic toy makes early learning fun and exciting for little ones. More than 30 touch sensitive keys teach language and pronunciation skills to help prepare children for school. Bilingual feature helps kids learn in English & Spanish. Lightweight and truly portable for on-the-go learning. Ships to US and Canada only.

Travel through Mexico with this beautiful picture book from Barefoot Books. Along the way, learn Spanish words and phrases and discover Mexican culture. Ships to the US, Canada, or Europe only.

Discover the animals of the rainforest with The Parrot Tico Tango from Barefoot Books. The rhyming text and brilliant illustrations teach animals and colors. Ships to the US, Canada, or Europe only.

A Spanish-English picture dictionary, a simple workbook in Spanish geared towards 1st graders in Mexico, the classic “lotería” game, plus a couple of small wooden toys, courtesy of Kid World Citizen.

Second Prize Package

Annual subscription (print and digital) to a children’s magazine from Cricket. See details above.

Más Canciones en Español from Music with Sara: A wonderful collection of traditional songs from Latin America. Perfect for children learning Spanish.

Reading kit for one children’s biography highlighting Latina librarian, Pura Belpré, courtesy of Latinas for Latino Lit. Includes a copy of The Storyteller’s Candle by Lucía González, a 16-page HHM Reading Kit full of book-based activities to promote literacy, with a folder, a pencil and set of colored pencils. Retail value: $15.95 Ships to the US only.

Participating Blogs

Multicultural Kid Blogs

All Done Monkey

Spanish Playground

Kid World Citizen

Mommy Maestra

World Music with Daria

Kids Yoga Stories

Inspired by Familia

SpanglishBaby

Discovering the World Through My Son’s Eyes

For the Love of Spanish

De Su Mama

The Paris Busy Bee Blog

Spanglish House

Crafty Moms Share

Toddling in the Fast Lane

The Good Long Road

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