Holidays are a fun time to have a creative celebration at home while also teaching your children about history and traditions! Cinco de Mayo is this week, and we are all geared up with some quick and easy ways to throw your own child-friendly fiesta while working on some speech skills!
Dress the Part
Grab those sombreros! Everyone in the family can get dressed for the celebration! Think flowers in a girl’s hair, big hats and ponchos. Ask your child to find these different accessories and to tell you where they go. It’s a fun way for younger kids to work on identifying clothes and body parts. Practice naming colors with your children as you all wear the traditional colors of Mexico; red, white, and green. You can even draw your own mustaches!
Read All About It
Teach your children about the history and significance of Cinco de Mayo by reading books about the holiday. Cinco De Mayo (Holidays in Rhythm and Rhyme) by Emma Carlson Berne even includes online music access.
Marco’s Cinco de Mayo by Lisa Bullard is another great choice that explains Cinco de Mayo traditions to children.
Your child can even do some research online and write his or her own story about the history and traditions for this holiday! Check your children’s comprehension by asking them to retell you some of the information from the stories after reading them.
Finishing Touches
Put on some Mariachi music, and get our your child’s maracas or other musical instruments! Talk with your child about how the different instruments look and sound, using descriptions like loud, soft, big, small, and round. Cinco de Mayo happens to fall on Taco Tuesday this year! Help your child develop auditory processing skills as you give him or her instructions on how to make a taco. For example, “get a taco shell and put on the meat, lettuce and then cheese”. Your child can then try remembering and sequencing these directions!
Get Crafty!
What child doesn’t love a piñata? Make your own like the one shown here. Focus on teaching your child spatial concepts as they follow directions containing words like in, on, and off. Younger children can practice saying simple phrases like, “my turn” and “your turn” when it comes time to hit the piñata!
Have fun and Happy Cinco de Mayo!
Amy Yacoub, MS, CCC-SLP | Speech Pathologist
Proud Member of The Story Box Family
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