Cinco De Mayo Celebration

We had a blast celebrating Cinco de Mayo in class yesterday! Here are some picture highlights:

 

 Our classroom was decorated for a Fiesta! The kids were so excited to see it all!

 

This is a bulletin board set from Carson Dellosa. My kids loved seeing the Spanish word alongside the English one.

 Of course, we had to have a pinata too. And I love the cloth I found at Hobby Lobby for our tablecloth!

Even our tree was decked out!

Here's my son Joshua rocking his sombrero craft. Not sure where his teacher got the pattern.

 

We didn't have enough space in our classrooms, so we took to the hallway, setting up a salsa making station!

 We took turns reading "Chicks and Salsa" to our kids and then making salsa to top our chips and cheese!

Of course we also read books about Mexico and it's history, and I think by the end of the day everyone understood that Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of the Battle of Puebla as well as Mexican culture.We also read The Tortilla Factory. It was great for reminding my kiddos about life cycles, as well as teaching them about what goes into things that they purchase at the store, and of course a staple of Mexican cuisine.

I don't have any pictures of breaking our pinata because I was being photographed myself at that moment! Our local newspaper sent out a photographer and he captured some of our pinata breaking moments - which undoubtedly look funny because our rope broke on the first swing and subsequently I was holing it for each child. Finally we whacked at it on the floor lol! I am anxious to see the pictures, I totally forgot to suck in my belly or present my "good" side to the camera lol so I imagine I'll look like a hot mess as usual. But, the important thing is that we had a great time and I know my kiddos will be so thrilled to see their names and pictures in the paper!

Now that Cinco de Mayo is over we are going to hit Dinosaurs and Space  for the remainder of the year! We're also scheduled to go on our field trip next weekend! I tell you, we are packing a lot in the last 13 days of school! I'd love for you to share what themes you're going to end the year with!

Oh, and just because they are so darn cute not to share, I'll end with some pictures of my chick/ducklings:

 Their cage is set up on a table at the front of the room by our calendar so we can see them throughout the day.

 They were scared of my camera for some reason so they all huddled in one corner together. Which is funny because they are not afraid of anything else, having been reared in a noisy classroom!

 I love seeing the ducklings cuddling with the chicks!

Our chicks are getting their feathers. It's amazing how quickly they grow up! Soon they will be leaving us for a local farm!