Ideas for a Fiesta Night for Elementary School

Allow students to wear sombreros to the fiesta night.

Host a fiesta night at your elementary school to celebrate the Mexican culture. The Kansas Historical Society explains that the word "fiesta" means a happy, joyful celebration. Students will enjoy planned activities on fiesta night at your elementary school. Your fiesta night can be fun while providing education on Mexican fiesta traditions. Parents and teachers will enjoy watching children become excited about learning.

Decorations

Give individual balloons to children to take home after your fiesta night.

The colors of the Mexican flag are green, white, and red. Use the colors of the Mexican flag when choosing solid colored decorations including: balloons, streamers and tablecloths. Purchase all three colors of each decoration. Take all three colors of streamers and twist them together before hanging them around the party location. Alternate table cloth colors on tables throughout the room. Take one of each color balloon and tie them together with a balloon weight. Use the balloons as table centerpieces. You also can display the Mexican flag at your fiesta night. Place sombreros on tables as centerpieces and encourage guests to wear their own throughout the night.

Pinata and Candy Games

Hang pinatas from the ceiling with string for an indoor fiesta night.

Provide a pinata for game entertainment at your fiesta night. Use a designated open area for play to avoid accidental injuries when swinging at pinatas. Students will take turns hitting a pinata until it breaks open with candy. After the pinata is opened, the game is over and the children will move quickly to collect the candy and prizes that fall out of the pinata. Provide multiple pinatas to play with at different times for more opportunities for children to attempt to be the winner by breaking it open. You also can fill jars with specific amounts of candy for students to view. Have students guess the amount of candy in each jar, and if they guess right they will win the candy. Have many jars to allow for many winners but allow each student to win only once.

Food

Present chips on trays and dipping choices in bowls.

Appetizers are appropriate food options for your fiesta night. Purchase tortilla chips in bulk, and provide several different dipping options, such as guacamole made from fresh avocado, salsa and nacho cheese with jalapenos. If you choose to serve a more filling dish, have a variety of options to make your own tacos. Provide tortillas to guests, and allow them to fill their tortilla themselves. Options for taco fillers include beef, chicken, refried beans, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese and sour cream. Offer dessert options later in the night, including fried bananas, cinnamon apple burritos and tortillas filled with fruit.

Mariachi Band

Set up a small stage for the band to perform on.

Hire a mariachi band for entertainment during your fiesta night. The mariachi band will play live music throughout the night. Students will enjoy listening to the mariachi band, and viewing the instruments used during songs. The music will be enjoyable to listen to, as well as to dance to. Set aside a special time frame where the band will play for everyone as entertainment. For the remainder of the fiesta, have them play as background music. If the school budget does can not afford to hire a live band, purchase a CD of a mariachi band. Play this CD on the school speaker system at a medium volume to encourage the fiesta theme.

References

• Kansas Historical Society: Mexican Fiesta Traditions
• Food Timeline: FAQs: Mexican & Tex Mex foods

Resources

• Mike Vaccaro Productions: Mexican Fiesta
• Mexican Desserts: Mexican Dessert recipes