Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month {Printable Activity Sheet}

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with Music Activities

The Hispanic culture is rich with vibrant music and instruments.  Introduce children to a variety of fun, cultural music with interactive bilingual learning.

Mariachi Music

Mariachi music is a folkloric traditional music from Mexico originating in the state of Jalisco.  This music can be heard at all types of celebrations, weddings, dances, birthdays and festivals.

• Bring the music to life by visiting a local Mexican restaurant that has live mariachi music.
• Read The Best Mariachi in the World by J.D. Smith.  Children will love the illustrations and story.  It is a wonderful introduction to the concept of Mariachi music.
• Create your own Mariachi band with toy or craft instruments and sombreros.  Practice singing your favorite Spanish song and choose someone to serenade.  If you are in a school setting, ask permission to serenade the office staff.  If you are at home with your children, serenade a family member or neighbor.

Merengue Music

Merengue music may have originated in The Dominican Republic, but today it is popular all over Latin America and in the United States.  The quick, rhythmic beat of the music is fun and can be enjoyed by all ages.

• Play your favorite merengue artist.  We love Elvis Crespo, Olga Tañon, Kumbia Kings and Grupo Mania.
• Teach kids the basic merengue step: ‘ uno, dos, uno dos”.  It is simple and children can easily move to the beat.
• Play music and have children follow your lead.  Teach directions as you dance to the upbeat music  “ adelante, atrás, lado al lado, vuelta, etc.” Allow children to be the leaders and they have a chance to give the commands.
• Use fun merengue music to play Freeze Dance.  Dance to the music, then pause the music. Kids then have to freeze and count in Spanish.  You can do this a variety of ways with different counting techniques ( by 5’s, 10’s, backwards, etc).  This is a great activity to get kids moving!

Click here to download a PDF with the Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month activity. The download will automatically start as soon as you click. Check your computer´s download folder to find the files.

Thanks to The Bilingual Fun Company for providing this activity. You can follow them on Twitter and Like their Facebook pagewhich is always bustling with information.

Tell us, are you using and enjoying these activities? We´d love to know!