Making Cascarones-Spanish Confetti Eggs

A Review of the website “Speak Spanish Everyday! Living and Learning en Espanol”
http://speakspanisheveryday.com/category/spanish-holiday-activities/ and the activity titled “Making Cascarones-Spanish Confetti Eggs”.

Looking for an activity that would be connected to my topic of Lent and Easter and to be connected to the Hispanic culture I came across an activity of making Cascarones. The activity begins by briefly describing the history of Cascarones.

“Origins of Cascarones in Mexico - This is the time of year for more traditional casacarones. In 19th century Mexico, one of the few ways that young couples could show public affection was to crack a cascarn or two over each others’ heads at dances during carnaval before Lent, or Cuaresma. Over time, children adopted the custom during Lent. Now everyone is in on the fun right before Ash Wednesday, and some break them out again at Easter, or Pascua.”

Then continues with the activity of creating Cascarones. The site offered step-by-step instructions with clear photos on how to prepare the eggs, dye the eggs, and fill the eggs with confetti.

Chapter seven of Charles W. Dahm’s book, Parish Ministry in a Hispanic Community, published by Paulist Press, 2004 was the reading for Week 12. In this reading Dahm describes how a parish in the Chicago area made strides in focusing on effective means of catechesis with an immigrant Hispanic population they served. Dahm indicates that for this culture catechesis is not generally most effective through formal classroom and official teaching but better developed by family experience, and festive celebrations that connect the wealth of customs that the culture grew from. Other successful forms of catechesis included a focus on devotions and prayers that bring together the historical stories and traditions to the present day.

The activity described in the website falls short in the description and history of Cascarones. To create an experience that would cultivate a rich sense of the fun and purpose of the use and celebration associated to cascarones, more would be needed. The website initially seemed to promote the sense that there would be a depth of information for someone searching for information about Hispanic culture. The activity as presented provides a shallow essence of the “why” of the activity and celebration. I would recommend this activity for this cultural group with added components to include scriptural reflections and more historical background.




Making Cascarones-Spanish Confetti Eggs (2009, April 1) Retrieved April 19, 2009, from speakspanisheveryday.com: Today!, http://speakspanisheveryday.com/category/spanish-holiday-activities/