Cinco de Mayo Crafts

Make these colorful Magnets de Mayo flowers out of corn and beans in this fun Cinco de Mayo craft project!

What You'll Need:

Assorted dried corn and beans

White, green, or red felt

White, green, and red paint

Paintbrush

Scissors

Glue

Waxed paper

Sticky-backed magnetic strip

Green, white, and red are the colors of the Mexican flag, and you can combine them in lots of interesting ways when painting the corn and beans that make up these flower magnets. Use an assortment of dried beans to vary the shape of your flowers. Tiny lentils and corn kernels will make delicate posies, while larger fava beans can become the leaves of a gorgeous bloom.

Paint lots of dried beans and corn in the colors of Mexico and let dry. Then arrange 6 to 10 beans and kernels in a flower shape. Place the points of the corn kernels toward the center of the flower.

Cut a circle of felt a bit larger than your flower. Cover the circle with glue, and arrange your flower on it. Put the felt-flower on the waxed paper, and cover it completely with glue. If some of the glue runs over the edges of your flower, don't worry. You can break off the extra glue when it is dry.

When your flower is completely dry, peel it off the waxed-paper and press a piece of sticky magnetic strip on the back.

For a fun Cinco de Mayo craft project that you can wear for the holiday, see the next page.

For more fun activities and crafts for kids, see:

Dress up for your Cinco de Mayo party with this festive mock silver jewelry you can make yourself.

What You'll Need:

Dried pasta (tubes, wheels, macaroni, etc.)

String

Scissors

Needle

Turquoise and silver paint

Paintbrushes

Pencil

Traditional Mexican jewelry is often made of silver, set with turquoise stones. Make your own out of pasta, string, some paint, and lots of imagination. Use an assortment of pasta. If the pasta you choose doesn't have holes to thread, have an adult make a hole in the pasta with a needle.

If you want to make a necklace, cut a length of string and shape it into a loop big enough to fit over your head. Make it a little longer than that so you have enough thread to make the knot. Then lay out your pasta shapes along the loop in different arrangements until you get one you like. You might want to write numbers lightly in pencil on the pasta so you know the order in which to string them.

Now you can paint the pasta in silver and turquoise. You might paint alternating colors, or paint the whole necklace silver except for the middle 2 pasta pieces. Follow your own design sense!

Lay the pasta out to dry in the same arrangement in which you will thread them. When the paint is dry, thread the pasta on the string, and knot the string ends.

Now that you've got the jewelry to dress up in, create maracas to make music to dance to! See the next page for instructions.

For more fun activities and crafts for kids, see:

Go crazy celebrating Cinco de Mayo with Maraca Mania. Make these easy maracas and get dancing!

What You'll Need:

Clean, empty 16-ounce plastic bottle with cap

Funnel or paper

1/3 cup rice

Beads: 1/3 cup each red, green, white

Glitter or sequins: few teaspoons each red, green, white

Glue

Ribbon: red, green, white

Scissors

Fabric paint: red, green, white

Make sure the bottle is clean and dry. If you don't have a funnel, make one by rolling a small piece of paper into a funnel shape. Place the funnel into the opening of the bottle, and pour in the rice. Add the beads and the glitter or sequins.

Once you have enough rice, beads, and glitter or sequins in the bottle, spread glue along the edge of the bottle top. Replace the cap, and let the glue dry.

Cut a variety of lengths of ribbon, and glue them to the bottle cap or wherever you choose. Use red, white, and green fabric paint to draw designs or write messages on the side of your bottle. When everything is dry, grab the maraca and shake it to make noise for Cinco de Mayo!

For another kind of maraca to make and shake -- and to increase the maraca mania on Cinco de Mayo -- see the next page for instructions on making Paper Bag Maracas.

For more fun activities and crafts for kids, see:

Create paper bag maracas with your friends. Then put on some music and shake things up.

What You'll Need:

Newspaper

Small paper bags or bakery bags

Poster paints

Paintbrush

Dried beans

Small pebbles or seeds

Craft glue

Cover your work surface with newspaper. Decorate the outside of 2 paper bags with poster paints. Paint stripes, zigzags, or a Caribbean design to match your other band instruments. After the paint has dried, put dried beans, small pebbles, or seeds in the bags.

Thin the craft glue with 2 teaspoons of water. Paint the outside of the bags with the diluted glue. While the glue is still wet, twist the top 4 inches of each bag into a handle. Coat the handles with another layer of glue. Let it dry overnight.

These maracas would make a fun party activity. For another classic party activity, make the Balloon Piñata on the next page.

For more fun activities and crafts for kids, see:

Make a balloon piñata, a Latin American holiday custom, and turn any occasion into a real party.

What You'll Need:

Balloon

Newspaper

Large bowl

Water

Flour

Paint

Paintbrush

Yarn

Candy and toys (optional)

Broom handle or bat

Blindfold

To make a balloon piñata, tear newspaper into strips. Mix flour and water together to make a paste. Blow up a balloon, and cover it with strips of newspaper dipped in the flour and water paste. Cover the balloon completely. Allow it to dry for a day or 2, turning it occasionally during that time.

When the balloon is dry, paint it in bright, decorative colors. Then, with adult help, cut the top off the balloon and punch several holes around the top edge. Thread yarn through the holes, tie them together, and hang up your piñata. Fill the balloon with candy or toys if you want to use it (and break it) for the piñata game!

If you're making a piñata for a Cinco de Mayo party, check out our pretty Cinco de Mayo Flowers on the next page to use as party decorations.

For more fun activities and crafts for kids, see:

Make a festive floral bouquet with Cinco de Mayo flowers to commemorate an important Mexican holiday.

What You'll Need:

Different colors of tissue paper

Scissors

Chenille stems

Ribbon

Cut tissue paper circles in a variety of colors in 3 different sizes. For each flower, use 2 small circles, 2 medium circles, and 2 large circles. Place 2 small circles on top of 2 medium circles, and put these on top of the 2 large circles.

Make a U with the chenille stem, and push it through all 6 layers so that both ends of the chenille stem go all the way through the pile and stick out behind the large circles. Twist the chenille stem ends together on the bottom of the flower to make it into a stem. Fold up each circle to create a ruffle of petals. (You can make a flower using 1 color, 2 colors, or all different colors!)

Make a few flowers, and put them in a vase or tie them together with a ribbon for festive holiday beauty.

For more fun activities and crafts for kids, see:

ABOUT THE CRAFT DESIGNERS

Magnets de Mayo by Lisa Lerner and Kersten Hamilton

Mock Silver Jewelry by Lisa Lerner and Kersten Hamilton