Piñata Making Inspires Creativity

  By Larissa Lytwyn

   For the last few weeks, 16 Newtown Middle School Spanish students have spent much of their after-school time in the company a host of exotic creatures, from bright blue pigs to iguanas to bulls.

   “Making piñatas is more fun and easier than I expected,” said Victoria Mead, who, inspired by the Harry Potter books, decided to shape hers into a snowy owl.

   She added, however, that the process could be “tedious.”

   “There is a lot of the same things you have to do over and over,” she said, “putting on layer after layer of tissue paper.”

    Under the direction of Spanish teachers Sarito Chandler and Michelle Tomassi, the students designed and then began making their own creative takes on the ancient Mexican tradition.

 Growing up in Latin America, Ms Chandler remembered the piñata as a ubiquitous force at festivals and family gatherings. The traditional piñata, which several students endeavored to recreate, consists of five points representing five evils.

“Breaking the piñata gets rid of all the evil,” Ms Chandler said. 

Seventh grader Katie Gottleib said she decided to make her piñata her dream pet, an iguana, replete with bright green scales made of tissue and construction paper.

“I’d love to have a [real] iguana someday,” she said.

Another student, Mike Daily, chose to make a giant grinning head. “I just thought it was a cool idea,” he said.

Jasmine Gay decided to make her piñata her favorite animal, a pig. The feet formed from small paper cups, its body whimsically covered in bright blue tissue paper.

“I was really impressed with the creativity of the students,” said Ms Tomassi. “I couldn’t believe some of the ideas the students came up with!”

Ms Chandler said the turnout for the project was significantly greater than expected. “It’s nice to see so many students interested in this,” she said.

The students plan to display their creations during the school’s “Celebration of the Arts” day on May 5.