Inside: How to make piñatas in Spanish class. A piñata mini-unit for Spanish class. Authentic listening & reading about piñatas in Spanish. Beyond a craft with a piñata unit in high school or middle school Spanish.
Piñata Mini Unit was 1st published on Mis Clases Locas by Allison Wienhold on 12.26.14 & most recently updated 12.19.25
Piñata Mini Unit in Spanish Class
In my first two years of teaching, we ended the school year in Spanish IV with a mini unit about piñatas. At that small private school, the last couple of weeks were crazy for seniors. They were pulled out of class for full-day retreats, community service, events with grandparents, graduation practice, and more.
I found it was nice to end the year with a fun cultural unit that the Spanish students are very interested in. It also worked to incorporate fun with the crazy schedules of students being in and out of the Spanish classroom.
To be honest we did not do more than have students make their own pinatas. (They took WAY longer than expected!) We watched some authentic videos to learn how to make the traditional colourful decorations & learned some new vocabulary and Spanish words. Then students created their own fun designs.
When I was a long term maternity leave Spanish sub, lesson plans that were left for 6th grade World Languages exploratory included a mini piñata. They made their own piñata on a flat paper plate. They used bright colors of small squares of tissue paper to make a much quicker small celebratory element of Mexican culture.
Below are some resources and ideas that we have used, and others that I am considering implementing for a Spanish class piñata unit. You could also add history of piñatas, the connection to birthday parties, quinceañeras, celebrations in Spanish-speaking countries, las Posadas, real Spanish party vocabulary, connect with visual arts, compare to own culture and similar traditions, and more.
Authentic Listening – Piñata in Spanish Class
Como hacer una piñata – Estrellas Navideñas – DIY Piñata
This great video gives step-by-step instructions in Spanish on how to make a piñata. It would be perfect to use to introduce the steps, as well as the vocabulary used to create a piñata. I have used this video in the past, pausing to explain in Spanish what is going on.
A shorter piñata tutorial in Spanish.
Authentic Reading – Piñata in Spanish Class
Piñata Reading
This would be a great cultural reading to use in a piñata mini-unit. It would be a great resource to add more history and culture of Mexico to the unit.
La piñata #infografia
This infographic would be another great authentic reading source. It could be used to introduce vocabulary as well as culture. It brings up the origin of the piñata from China, which could then be expanded into a web quest comparing and contrasting the two. You could do simple post-reading comprehension activities with the image.
La piñata de Renata
You could pair the comprehensible Spanish 1 La piñata de Renata from Spainish Cuentos with this unit as well.
6 Grados de Separación – La Piñata Video
This short animated video in Spanish shows how the piñata connects China and Mexico. UPDATE: Arianne shared this transcript of the video.
Beyond a Piñata Craft
After interpretive reading and listening to the resources above, it is time for the fun part, to make a piñata! Yes, I know that just doing the craft of making a piñata is not a communicative activity, but there are many ways it could become one.
Interpersonal Speaking Ideas for Piñata Unit
- Students must speak only in Spanish while working on their piñata.
- Working in partners, students take turns giving the other directions in the form of commands. (This could have the added twist of blindfolding one during the messy paper mâché part 🙂
Presentational Ideas for Piñata Spanish Unit
- Students give demonstration speeches on how to make different kinds of piñatas.
- After researching some aspects of piñatas (the history, when they are used, different types, the significance, etc), students present the information either in written or spoken form.
How to make a piñata
Supplies for Paper Mâché Piñata
- Flour
- Water
- Ripped newspaper
- White Glue
- Lots of Colored Tissue Paper
- Scissors for each group
- Large Balloons
- Small containers to put flour & water paste mixture – disposable bowls, or mixing bowls
- Plastic table clothes/ drop clothes /garbage bags – something to protect desks from Paper Mâché
- String to hang
Supplies for Cardboard Form Piñata
- Lots of thin Cardboard
- Lots of masking tape
- White Glue for each group
- Lots of Colored Tissue Paper
- Scissors for each group
- String to hang
Directions for How to Make a Piñata
Paper Mâché Piñata
(if creating cardboard forms you can skip & go to decorating)
- Cover tables or desks with garbage bags or plastic tablecloths.
- Rip newspapers into 1-2 in. strips.(the torn edges work better than cutting)
- Mix equal parts flour & water to make your paper mâché paste. Put in a few shared containers.
- Dip newspaper strips in paste, pulling off excess paste with two fingers and then draping over balloon or piñata form.
- Repeat until the whole balloon is covered in a thin layer and then repeat with layer two.
- Let dry overnight, flipping the balloon so all areas are dry.
Decorating the Piñata
- If using cones, roll newspaper, cover in tissue or decorative paper, and tape to Paper Mâchéd balloon.
- Fluffy Style Piñata
- Cut lots of squares of tissue paper, about 2×2 inches. (Stack many tissues papers to speed up)
- Stick the pencil in the middle of the tissue square, dip the end in white glue, and stick it on the balloon. Repeat 100+ times until the entire surface is covered.
- Tassel Style Piñata
- Cut long strips of tissue paper about two inches wide. (Stack many tissues papers to speed up)
- Make small cuts down the length of the tissue paper amount an inch in to make fringe.
- Glue the non fringe side down to your Piñata form. Continue layering on the fringe until you cover the form
Piñata Tips for School
- Have students work in pairs, or this could take weeks for a single perfectionist student to finish.
- Rip newspaper strips in advance and have 1 dedicated paper mâché day. This way you can cover all surfaces and insist that students complete it that day.
- Save tissue paper from being thrown away at Christmas and birthdays and save it to use for your piñatas. At family gatherings, everyone just folds and saves the tissue for me now.
- Buy the small white glue bottles at back-to-school sales so each pair can have its own bottle.
- Plus buy or borrow lots of pairs of scissors, so each group will have their own pair, or it will take forever. Or have students bring in their own scissors to use.
- If you work with middle school or want to make piñatas on a smaller scale, without the paper mâché, have them decorate two small paper plates, and staple them together.
- Once completed, hang the piñatas from your classroom ceiling for a festive decoration.
The picture below was from the original post I wrote about piñatas in 2014. It was a piñata a student made my 1st year teaching that hung from the ceiling the whole next year. Notice the very 2014 filter 🙂
I would love any feedback, ideas, or resources that you may have about piñatas! Should I turn this into a whole downloadable piñata unit with slides?
NEW – Show to Pair with unit – Piñata Masters
- Reality TV, Family, Competition
- Mexico
- 1 Season, 8 Episodes, 38–48 min
- 2022, TV-G
Piñata Masters is a super cute show on Netflix that would work well for middle school. It would go perfect with this Piñata Mini-Unit or the book La piñata de Renata.
Series description: “Seven teams compete to earn the prestigious title of piñata masters. Their piñatas must be colorful and creative in order to impress the most demanding and fickle jury, a group of picky children.”
You could play this show while students create their piñatas. Or use an episode of the show as a part of your unit. Piñata Masters would make an excellent sub plan as well!
More Ideas to Teach About Mexico in Spanish Class
- Teaching the novel Tumba
- Día de Muertos Songs for Spanish class
- The Best Movies to Teach the Day of the Dead
- Coco in Spanish Class – Get Freebies below!
