Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Cinco De Mayo Activity: Cascarones (An Egg Smashing Activity)

When I first read about this tradition, I knew it would be a winner in my family with kids that like to smash and crash things!  It started as an Easter activity but has shifted to Cinco de Mayo, depending on the organization of the Mama...




The basic game is to take a blown out egg and smash it over another person's head.  The painted egg is full of confetti, so the person gets a head full of tiny pieces of paper.  As our kids have grown older, our the tradition is to give the person a wish as you crack the egg of their head, such as, "I wish you a year full of lots of Lego's!"  among the kids, or "many happy days" between grown ups...  Also, I've taken to hiding a dollar in some of the eggs, for an eggstra special crackin' surprise. 


Materials needed:
At least one egg for each person
push pin or other sharp object to make holes in eggs
paint & paintbrushes
confetti
glue
tiny bit of tissue paper (or other thin paper)


Use a small sharp object such as a push pin to make holes in top and bottom of egg.  Using a small diameter object is easier for preventing cracks!  To make the bigger hole will take many pricks from the pin.
Blow contents of egg out through larger hole.  (I save the blown out egg contents in pairs, mix them with sugar and other wet ingredients, and freeze for future baking activities).
Gather confetti to put inside.  I'm trying paper shreds this year to see if it is slightly less messy yet still fun. I put a folded dollar in two of the eggs as an EGGSTRA surprise..

Keep stuffing the confetti in until the egg is full.

Put a ring of glue around the larger hole and cover it with tissue paper.

Paint your eggs in bright colors!  Don't strive for perfection here as your art will get SMASHED soon enough!

Instruct your game players to break the egg in their hands on top of someone's head rather than directly on it to avoid the "OUCH".  In our family, the egg smasher says a nice wish as they cover their victim with confetti...

HAPPY SMASHING!


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