World Love Week: Mexico

It’s Hispanic Heritage Month! So with that we are focusing on Mexico! Being that there is Mexican heritage in our home, we are going to just be taking some time to celebrate that, and share a little bit of how we are striving to give our girls pride in their Mexican culture, and hopefully spark some ideas for how you can share about Mexico with your littles.

Mexican Food

Food is one of my favorite things about Mexican culture. For this week, I had Vale help me make homemade guacamole and tortillas. To be honest I am not a great tortilla maker. My mother-in-law taught me, so I practice hard, and hopefully Vale and I will figure out the art some day. However guacamole is simple and fun for toddlers to make and taste.

What you need:

• 2-3 ripe avocados,
• 1 Roma tomato, diced
• 1/4 onion, diced
• 1/2 lime
• Salt, to taste
• Cilantro, chopped, to taste

1. Place avocados in bowl, and mash (mashing is totally a toddler job, though they may need a bit of help).
2. Squeeze the juice of 1 lime (toddlers can help with this too), and add salt to taste.
3. Pour in cilantro, onion, and tomato (another toddler job).
4. Mix, dip your chips (or chicharones, or guacamole boat of choice), and enjoy!

Traditional Clothes

We have been blessed with friends and family who have gifted us traditional Mexican clothes for our girls. We let our girls wear and play with the clothes, because we want them to be proud of their heritage. Some guidelines for exploring culture through clothes and traditional cultural items:

1. Be sure to teach. Talk about the purpose of the items. What are they used for? Why and how are items worn.
2. Use respect. While exploring clothes make sure the tone stays respectful. Help deconstruct negative stereotypes, and reinforce the ideas that this is apart of a person’s history, culture, and/or way of life.

Spanish Language

We are a bilingual (Spanish/English) home. Since we live in the states (where our girls just tend to pick-up English everywhere), we are always on the hunt for Spanish resources. Being that we live in a northern state, it is not always easy to find good Spanish resources. So whenever I find one, I am eager to share. I have compiled alot of our favorites (and resources we have used for our Baby Devotions) in our Spanish Resouces Page. Maybe read a book, watch a show, or listen to Spanish music. Being exposed to different languages is so beneficial for developing brains, even if you don’t have goals of raising bilinguals. Some our favorite Mexican musicians are Tatiana, Cri Cri, and Belinda.

Maracas

Maracas can be heard in music across Latin America, that includes Mexico. So we made some maracas. This was a simple mommy-and-me project that the girls played with the rest of the day.

What you need:

• Plastic Easter eggs
• Rice
• Duct tape
• Small plastic straws, small dowls, or popsicle sticks
• Decorations (washi tape, stickers, etc).

What you do:

1. If your eggs have holes, cover the holes with duct tape.
2. Fill eggs with rice (my toddler loved helping with this).
3. Close eggs and cover with duct tape.
4. Use duct tape to attach plastic straws to eggs.
5. Decorate! (Another toddler job!)

Esperanza Viva

As with all World Love Weeks, we pray for the country we are learning about. This month we are praying for Esperanza Viva. This is a ministry that provides care and resources for at-risk children and youth in Mexico. We simply look at pictures that they post on their Instagram account and say a simple pray for the children in their care.

What ways have you explored Mexican culture with your littles? Comment below.