Cinco de Mayo Coloring Pages

• Papel picado: the cut-paper banners hung across streets, with flowers, birds and suns in the designs
• Piñatas: the traditional star with seven points and paper streamers
• Folklórico dancers: dancers in full skirts and embroidered blouses, caught mid-spin
• Music: guitars, trumpets, violins and maracas
• Talavera patterns: painted tile designs with blue flowers, leaves and borders
• Food: tacos, tamales, elote, pan dulce and mole poblano, the famous sauce from Puebla
• Symbols of Mexico: the flag with its eagle on a cactus, and the tiled church domes of Puebla

Cinco de Mayo means the fifth of May. It remembers the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, when a smaller Mexican army defeated invading French forces. It is not Mexico's Independence Day, which is September 16. In Mexico the day is observed mainly in the state of Puebla, with parades and reenactments. In the United States it has grown into a wider celebration of Mexican and Mexican American culture, with music, dancing and food in many cities.

• Paper banner: color several papel picado pages in bright pink, orange, green, blue and purple, then tape them to a string across the room.
• Map and flag: find Puebla on a map of Mexico and color the flag green, white and red, with the eagle in the center.
• Tile mural: each student colors one Talavera tile, and the class tapes them into a grid.
• Spanish color words: label crayons rojo, verde, azul and amarillo and call out colors as you go.
• Music time: play mariachi or Mexican folk music while coloring the instrument pages.