Come join us at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library for El Día de los Niños! Our Tonantzin Society will be there during the evening hours with crafts and educational materials. What will we be making you ask? Well the cutest craft called a Suncatcher Piñata. We will also focus on the important literacy component by giving a take home sheet to read to your child on the history of the piñata. To learn more about all Día activities go to http://tscpl.org/events/el-dia
What is the history of El Día de los Niños?
Día originated in Mexico in 1925. Historically cultures have had a special day of time of year when children arte celebrated. The holiday is Mexico is often a day off of school for children and all types of special activities are planned. The special day falls on April 30 of every year!
Well in 1997 a new component was added by wonderful Chicana author/educator Pat Mora of New Mexico. She worked with a number of Latino organizations to add literacy as a vital component. Soon libraries and literacy groups were all on board. The name of the special day was changed to El día de los niños/El día de los libros. This bit of information below is taken from the website www.texasdia.org. The founders of the holiday point out the commitment to:
- honoring children and childhood;
- promoting literacy and the importance of linking all children to books, languages, and cultures;
- honoring home languages and cultures, and thus promoting bilingual and multilingual literacy in this multicultural nation, and global understanding through reading;
- involving parents as valued members of the literacy team; and,
- promoting library collection development that reflects our plurality.
Topeka’s Commitment to El día de los niños/El día de los libros
The Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library is the scene for a wonderful and festive Día. Involved in the holiday for years, the library in 2009 was also the recipient of the prestigious Mora award.
In 2013 our Tonantzin Society became involved and we were not only heads over heels impressed with the number of children in attendance – also with how many organizations come on board to work with the kids.
Our craft component was on the quetzal bird. Education and language emphasis was on the indigenous Nahua origins of the quetzal word and fun bits of trivia.
We had a blast! And we committed to being a part of this diverse and fun-filled day. ~