By: Michelle Villanueva, Celebrations Columnist
On 1/17/06
For many families, a birthday party isn’t complete unless the birthday child gets a chance at cracking open a piñata. This time-honored tradition is always a big hit at gatherings because of the sweet treasures hidden inside. It’s a candy and toy free-for-all, as much fun for the lucky child who cracks it open as it is for all the other guests, who get to snatch at the falling.
| "The pull-string piñata is gaining in popularity because it is much safer than its older counterpart." |
“Dale, dale, dale,
no perdas el tino,
porque si lo perdes,
pierdes el camino.”
Hit, hit, hit.
Don’t lose your aim,
Because if you lose,
you lose the road.
– from “A History of the Piñata”
Currently, the most popular store-bought piñatas are the ones shaped like cartoon characters. If your child’s party is themed to a particular TV show, then the character piñata is an obvious choice.
Piñatas can be found in practically any other shape—from soccer balls to dinosaurs—so you’ll probably have no trouble finding a piñata that will catch your child’s eye.
An alternative to the store-bought piñata is the homemade one, which has the obvious advantages of being cheaper and easier to match to your birthday theme. Another big plus about making your own piñata: you and your child can craft it together!
My favorite project comes via familyfun.com, which creates a piñata shaped like a large hot-air balloon. Fortunately, you can use the same basic principles to create a piñata shaped like whatever you’d like.
Make sure your piñata activity is held outdoors. There are too many things that might go wrong if you hang the piñata in your living room. No matter how well you think you’ve accident-proofed the house, something will likely break. It’s best to have as much open space as possible.
Give some thought to what sort of bat to offer as a hitting device. Standard baseball bats are much too heavy and difficult to control, especially in the small hands of children. Instead, look for something thinner and lighter. Some party stores sell special plastic sticks just for this purpose.
Pinatas.com suggests that in order to keep the activity safe, onlookers must be kept at a reasonable distance away from the piñata itself.. They suggest at least a radius of at least 15 feet. An actual physical barrier (like a ring of rope or chairs) may be the best defense against children getting a little carried away during the game.
Safety is of course of primary concern here. When you start the activity, make sure all the children know the rules.
- Keep away from the hitter at all times, because she is blindfolded.
- Do not rush to grab the candy as soon it starts to fall. The hitter still can’t see anything and he might be swinging still. Make he has stopped before grabbing anything.
Before the guests leave, it might be a good idea to distribute goody bags filled with candy for the children who didn’t get a real chance to grab as much candy as they’d like. This way, no guest will come away from the party empty-handed.
We’ve been talking about the traditional “whack-it” piñata, but there’s also another type of piñata designed for younger children. This can be used as an indoor activity. The pull-string piñata is gaining in popularity because it is much safer than its older counterpart.
The basic idea is to have a piñata with a large number of ribbons attached to the bottom. Each player gets a chance to tug on one of the ribbons, but only one ribbon opens up the piñata. Since no sticks or blindfolds are involved, there’s no need to worry about someone getting hurt.
Making a pull-string piñata requires a little more effort than creating the traditional type Basic Recipes suggests using a piñata with a flat bottom. Create a flap by cutting into the bottom, and then thread a ribbon or string through the flap, knotting the other side of the string to keep it secure. Then use tape to attach more ribbons to the bottom of the piñata. Glue a piece of tissue paper to the bottom, completely hiding the area where the ribbons attach to the piñata. The best part about the pull-string piñata is that when it finally opens and reveals its contents, it’s still intact. The birthday child can actually keep the piñata as a reminder of the party!
Another alternative to the regular piñata game is to create tiny, personalized piñatas as party favors. NotMartha.org explains how to form these out of tissue paper and water balloons. I personally like this idea best because everyone gets a chance to break open their own piñata without the need for swinging sticks and getting blindfolded. Also, there’s no mad rush for candy afterwards!
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