piñata - part one!

When we were younger and it came time to planning our birthday party a few elements were always required: cake, balloons, invitations, and a group of our closest friends and a piñata! But choosing the piñata was always the easy part it followed the theme of the party.

When I turned seven years old, the theme of my party was roller skating. The popular thing to do back in the day was go to Skate Country North (oh, how I miss that place) and then everyone went back to my house for some more fun and of course I had a piñata and it was in the shape of a roller skate!

According to Wendy Delvin, the history of the piñata is very rich.

An early form of the piñata can be traced all the way back to Marco Polo in China and then to Europe and finally reached North America in the 16th century.

An early version of the piñata was a clay pot which was called la olla. There were times when the pot was decorated with different types of feathers, colored paper and objects (fruit and trinkets) were placed inside and when the pot was broken and the objects fell to the ground it was considered an offering to the gods. Early versions of the piñata were used for religious ceremonies (Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent). Piñatas are really not used for religious purposes today, but they are used for fun and recreational use.

Today, if you walk into any grocery or party supply store you will be able to find a piñata in the form of your favorite superhero, action figure or of a princess.



This is the first in a two part series about piñatas!

So make sure you come back next week to find out how to make a piñata!