Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of Mexican heritage, culture, and pride. May 5th. This is in honor of when the Mexican army defeated the French in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. The day is mostly celebrated by people of Mexican heritage in the United States and Mexico but many people not of Mexican heritage also participate in the festivities, food, and fun! | |
The day is celebrated with parades, carnivals, street fairs, and sometimes fireworks at night. There are some traditional Mexican celebrations such as the Baile Folklorico dance along with mariachi music. People dress up in traditional Mexican clothing as well. Some parades or festivals may include a reenactment of the Battle of Pueblo. |
The TACO Among many other delicious traditional Mexican dishes eaten on this day, the Taco is probably the most common. The origins of the taco are really unknown. A theory is that it dates from the 18th century and the silver mines in Mexico, because in those mines the word “taco” referred to the little charges they would use to excavate the ore. These were pieces of paper that they would wrap around gunpowder and insert into the holes they carved in the rock face. When you think about it, a chicken taco with a good hot sauce is really a lot like a stick of dynamite. One of the first types of tacos described is called tacos de minero—miner’s tacos (Smithsonian Magazine) |
| Since 1989, Taco Tuesday® has been a registered trademark of Taco John’s, one of the largest Mexican restaurant chains in the United States. Since Cinco De Mayo falls on a Tuesday this year, it is only fitting that we create our own Taco Sculptures for the cultural celebration. If you are interested in helping your family with dinner tonight, check out this kids cooking video on making Taco Tuesday happen at home! |
Everyone loves tacos....even DRAGONS! Yes, I said Dragons. They love chicken tacos, beef tacos, great big tacos, and teeny tiny tacos. So if you want to lure a bunch of dragons to your party, you should definitely serve tacos. Buckets and buckets of tacos. Unfortunately, where there are tacos, there is also salsa. And if a dragon accidentally eats spicy salsa . . . oh, boy. You're in red-hot trouble. Before we begin, sit back and enjoy this wonderful story about taco-loving-dragons! | |
It's ALL about TEXTURE!
ACTUAL or REAL TEXTURE Is when an artist uses materials that actually feel like something when you touch it. Today we will be creating ACTUAL TEXTURE in our collages. | IMPLIED TEXTURE Is when an artist uses special techniques when drawing or painting to make their artwork LOOK like it feels a certain way, but actually is just flat. |
Using yellow and brown crayon add some TEXTURE to your plate. The best way to do this is to tear the paper off of your crayon and drag the crayon around your plate on its side. After that, add some yellow and brown washable marker, brush over top of your shell with water and fold it in half.
Using brown and black crayons add some TEXTURE to a half sheet of paper by swirling the crayons around, forming loops until the entire page is covered. Flip the paper over and repeat so that both sides are covered with TEXTURE. After that, swirl in some black and brown washable marker and brush over top of your beef with water. After your paper is dry you can cut your taco meat into 2-3 half circles to fit inside the shell.
On your second half sheet of paper, use whatever green crayons your have to create a wrinkly TEXTURE with wiggly lines. After that, trace your lines with green washable marker. You can also add a hint of yellow if you would like. Finally, brush water over top to create your lettuce. Flip your paper over and repeat these steps so that both sides of the paper are green with IMPLIED TEXTURE.
Take a smaller scrap sheet of paper an draw your tomato slices. When I cut a tomato into slices, I notice that the slice is either a circle or a half circle. Inside each tomato slices, I see another shape, TRIANGLES. There are 4 or 5 triangles inside each tomato slice. Draw 3-4 tomato slices with crayon first, trace with washable marker second and brush water over the top last. After your paper is dry, CUT your tomato slices out.
Take a smaller scrap sheet of paper an draw your OLIVE slices. Begin by drawing small black circles all over your paper. After that you can add a black dot for the center of your olive slices. Add some gray crayon to the inside of your olives, trace with BLACK washable marker second and brush water over the top last. After your paper is dry, CUT your OLIVE slices out.
Take a smaller scrap sheet of paper to create your ONION IMPLIED TEXTURE. Begin by drawing horizontal lines across your paper in purple crayon. After that, trace with purple washable marker and brush water over the top. After your paper is dry, CUT your ONIONS into small squares.
Now it's time for my favorite part of the taco...THE CHEESE!!! Take a smaller scrap sheet of paper to create your CHEESE. Begin by drawing vertical lines from top to bottom on your paper in yellow and orange crayon. After that, trace with yellow washable marker and brush water over the top. After your paper is dry, CUT your paper into skinny strips. This will help create an ACTUAL TEXTURE of shredded cheese.
Half of the fun of eating a taco is getting to build it JUST how YOU like it. Personally, I like extra tomatoes and olives but I am not a big fan of onions ( so I leave those off ). In my images below I show how I chose to build my Taco Sculpture. You DO NOT have to follow the same steps.