World Arts Day

My son's favorite musical instrument is the drum. No surprise, I suppose, since he's four years old and I've never met a four-year-old who doesn't love the drums. It was a given then that we would go to an event called "World Arts Day" just because he would be able to take part in a drum circle like they do in Senegal.


My son and daughter here are exploring Rangoli, traditional sand art in India.

The big surprise is that World Arts Day over the weeekend turned out to be a hit with my son not because of the drums but because he discovered dancing. And not just any dancing. Folkloric dancing.



Instructor Jesus Mejia led an energetic group of youngsters at California State University, Los Angeles through more than an hour of vigorous exercises and dancing. My son appeared to be the youngest but that didn't dampen his enthusiasm for the traditional dances from Mexico.



Still, he wasn't too tired to want to create his own piñata when he finished dancing and happened upon the scene shown above. Piñatas are fairly easy to make, but are so much more fun when you have an instructor to show you exactly what to do.

Here, the instructor is showing me the base that my son and I used to build our piñata so that we can recreate it at home with our own cardboard to make more piñatas.



The best part of making a piñata is that most materials are likely already in your home, headed for the recycling bin. This next photo shows our piñata as it looked after the cardboard base was covered with newspapers using a flour-water mixture. Next to it, is a finished piñata that has been decorated with red and blue tissue paper.



Later, my kids and I were on our way to buy our weekly dose of pan Mexicano (Mexican pastries) at a Mexican supermarket when my son squealed with delight at the sight of these:



He and my daughter excitedly broke out in chatter, pointing out the ones they liked and want to make. It looks like we'll be making more piñatas in the months to come.