When one of my daughter’s first words was D-d-d-dora I knew there was something special about this character. As a new mamá, I am watching children’s programs for the first time, getting to know what they are about and trying to figure out which are best for my daughter, Little L. Although she just turned 1, I do rely on some TV to help me with raising her bilingual. Little L’s exposure to Spanish is limited, and as I am away from most of my family and my country I appreciate all the help I can get — even when it comes from a 7-year-old cartoon character.
When it was time to plan her first birthday party and pick a theme, it was a no brainer: Dora the Explorer.
Not only does Little L adore Dora, I think she is an incredible role model for adults as well. Dora loves her familia and is proud of her culture; she is a great team player, cares for others, she is forgiving, adventurous but cautious, and is always trying to save the day. The fact that she is not only Latina but also bilingual just makes her even more extraordinary and a perfect example for Little L. I want my daughter to grow up with a kind heart like Dora’s and to be proud and confident to speak English, Spanish and why not Spanglish as well.
As a Latina food blogger I pay a lot of attention to the food I serve, so for this fiesta, I created a menu that was kid-friendly and that represented our Latino heritage. I took this as an opportunity to tell a story of our culture and language. Regardless of planning a Dora theme or not, we can all use food as a channel to engage and enrich our guests. To make the celebration and the menu more personal, I suggest you look into what matters most to you, what makes you unique and what you want to share about it. In this case, it was all about representing a side of Little L’s background that is friendly, lively, colorful, vibrant, diverse and welcoming. I was born and raised in the Dominican Republic and although that is what I am most proud of about my heritage, I realize Little L is going to grow up in a country where she will be mostly seen of Latino descent not just Dominican. So I incorporated a menu that was going to give a tour of the Americas including other Latin American countries and the U.S.
The idea was to use the menu as a map (Dora’s map) for guests to go around the party almost like on a scavenger hunt looking for dishes and food items listed on the map. The labels for the food served were written in español and in English. We encouraged guests to try to read and say terms they were not familiar with out loud, can you say ‘agua’?. This exercise became a fun part of the party and fostered great discussions and lots of learning from both sides. I think it’s an idea that can be applied to any party, so I want to share the menu I created for you to use at your next Dora or Latin inspired theme party.
In this HungryFoodLove post, I have included recipes, ideas and a printable PDF version of the map for you to download. Enjoy!
To check out Melissa’s post with a printable of the map mentioned above click here
Love this articule, the way that she explains how important is the bilingual and bicultural story for those of us that live in other contriens. Like me, i live in Spain, the language is the same but the culture is a little bit diferent, but we all share one thing in comun, is the love for food, the spanish people love food and aren’t afraid to try anything.
What a great article and creative idea to celebrate a birthday party! I have been thinking of celebrating a Dora’s birthday party but never thought about mixing cultures and languages. Love it!!!
This article is definitely helpful for Latinas moms that want to develop the latino cultura to their little ones! Thanks again for this great Idea…I will definitely download Dora’s map!!!
Such a cute idea!!!! But may I ask WHY your daughter’s exposure to Spanish is to limited??? Do you speak in Spanish to her?? Kids do not get confused by growing up bilingual. That’s a fallacy some people in the US want Hispanics to believe. I do not see any confused European children when they grow up learning multiple languages… so why would a kid in the US be confused by learning only 2??? Comienza a hablarle a tu nena en español todo el tiempo. Ella asimilará el español a la misma vez que asimila el inglés y cualquier otro idioma que se hable en tu casa. El aprender más de un idioma le abrirá muchas puertas en el futuro a tu nena. Y que cumpla muchos, muchos más.
Thanks Madelyn! The reason I say her exposure is limited is because I live in the US without all my big familia. I am a working mom so she attends day care and they only speak English to here there. But my husband and I are following the One Parent One Language method and he is speaking his native language, English, and I am an only speaking in Spanish to her. I know she will do great and she already understand a lot of Spanish. This website has a ton of resources that have helped me get creative and have given me great ideas on how to raise my daughter bilingual. Thanks again for your tip!
We have found a lot of great Spanish language programs on Youtube, which is great because we have complete control with that over what our son sees. There are a lot of canticuentos, Pocoyo en Espanol is a favorite, and all of the DiscoveryKids programs in Spanish that are available to our cousins in Colombia on regular cable.
That’s good to know Casey as we are cancelling cable this month as a new years resolution to spend more time in productive activities. Little L loves Pocoyo I think he is pretty clever and a fun character for younger kids like my daughter. Thanks!
What a gorgeous idea. I love it.
I looooved this article!
I am not a mom, YET, but have a few of newborn spanglish new bornes!
I will definitely share this entry with’em!
Alicia
I meant new nephews! hahaha
This is so awesome. I really adore the amazing concept and cultural significance at this beautiful birthday party. I am a big fan of Hungryfoodlove as well!
Of course anything with “Food” in the title is going to be read by Babushka, but this not only got read, I’m going to share it w/todo el mundo! What a great way to celebrate- que fun y original!! Y por supuesto the line about “Spanglish- why not?” I love it. ; ) BB2U
LOVE the mini empanadas and Arepitas, ¡que rico!
I’m mother of a two year old kid, I really identify with this post since I’m always curious of what he is watching on TV and what he is really learning from it. Dora represents very well our Latin roots and the way Melissa used her to celebrate her daughter’s 1st Bday, mixing the bilingual and bicultural creating such delicious dishes from different countries that was great! I will try for sure one of your recipes.
This is so so cute! I love the idea, very inspiring and unique Melissa! Nice to meet you and your blog as well!
Gracias Dariela! I am a fan of Mami Talks and Dari design. I am glad you liked this idea!
Such a great Idea! Mientras mas lo pienso mas interesante suena… I’m thinking it’s possible to do this with Go Diego go! y tambien Handy Manny =)
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