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On this page : Historical Background to Pinatas, an amusing insight into an American's pinata party and how to play the pinata game safely!
Made in China? Pinatas may have originated in China, not Mexico!
Many people think of the piñata as a fun party activity originating from Mexico, but history shows a slightly different story.
In the 13th Century Marco Polo was one of the first Westerners to visit China. He found the Chinese making figures of animals, covering them with brightly coloured paper, filling them with seeds then knocking them with sticks until the seeds fell out. Traditional colours were used for New Year celebrations. The seeds were burnt and people gathered the ashes for good luck over the year.
Marco Polo brought this idea back to Europe where it was used in religious celebrations using clay pots particularly for Lent. The Italian word for fragile pot is ‘pignatta’. The Spanish originally used an undecorated clay pot, later wrapping ribbons and fringed paper round the pot in much the same way as we decorate piñatas today.
When Spanish missionaries went to South America in the 15th century their religious ceremonies, of which the Lent celebrations with the piñata-style pot, helped convert local people to Christianity. They found, however, that the Aztecs had a similar ceremony for worshipping their god Huitzilopochtli and the Mayans had a game using a blindfolded player hitting a pot.
Today the piñata has lost its cultural and religious symbolism and is used for party fun.
With thanks to mexconnect.com and mexico-child-link.org
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A lighthearted comment warning of the perils of piñatas at a child’s party!
From the Miami Herald. This classic Dave Barry column was originally published Oct. 26, 2003. Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2009/06/14/1076168/the-perils-of-pinatas.html#ixzz0kymx7l6A
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Pinata Busting – How To Do It, Safely!
Get more from your piñata – use it as the party table centrepiece before the bashing!
What do you need?
Pinata, blindfolds, buster / basher stick, lots of mini items or sweeties to go in the piñata, a few spare in case some of the children don’t get any in the rush to pick up the bits once the piñata has dropped its contents.
Where to suspend the piñata!!
Try these ideas:
Outside - Tree branch, swing frame, basketball hoop or similar
Inside – Beam or hook in a hall, or more likely, two adults holding up a rope with the piñata hanging from it in the middle. Make sure the rope is long enough for the adults to be standing far enough away from the player.
Although this is a party game, a few rules will keep children (and adults!) safe.
Rope off an area where the piñata is hanging using chairs, skipping ropes, barriers, etc so that children are more than 4 metres away. Make this a piñata only zone. Whoever has the buster is the only one inside the circle and when they have finished their turn bashing the piñata they leave the buster in the circle. The rest of the children stay outside.
Remembering the rules and having an exclusive area makes the game more fun!
Organise the children in a line so that everyone gets a go, usually the youngest first. Blindfold the older ones, those under 3 need to see what they are hitting or pulling!
Blindfold the child, spin them round a few times and hand them the buster. Put them near the piñata. Others can call out instructions where to hit – right or wrong! Give each child a few chances to hit the piñata, it’s not as easy as you might think.
Once the piñata starts to break up ensure the child hitting the piñata has finished doing so before letting all the other children rush in to pick up the goodies.
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