As a multicultural family we celebrate The Epiphany of the Three Kings or how we call it in Puerto Rico: Día de Reyes. This year, I wanted to share with little one’s friends our Latino culture, and customs. What better way than to have a cultural play date with story time and crafts? For the play date we had books, and craft materials: Markers, crayons, stickers, glue, and glitter! Empty toilet paper rolls cut off like crowns (I got the idea here), and empty shoe boxes to decorate.
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| Empty toilet paper rolls cut up as crowns for the children to decorate with glitter. |
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| Empty shoe boxes, and brown paper for them to wrap. Crayons, markers, and stickers to decorate the box. |
I also had these cute little king crowns that I found on Nick Jr. last year, that I had saved. (They have a different one now that you can actually color.) Once the children arrived I had them put on their crowns to get into the spirit of our Three Kings Day play date!
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| King’s hat to wear during the story time. |
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| Oh so excited to start story time! |
The Twelve Days of Christmas begins on December 25th and goes on until the 12th night which falls on the eve of January 5, followed by the Feast of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day).
To begin our play date we had story time. I read to them A Piñata in a Pine Tree: Latino Twelve Days of Christmas by Pat Mora. It’s a beautifully illustrated book, fun and with catchy Spanish words that we sang along to the “12 Days of Christmas” tune! Story time was followed by the The Visit of the Wise Men by Martha Jander, and to incorporate our culture in the play date I read to them Los Tres Reyes (a caballo).
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| Story time books: Los Tres Reyes, A Piñata in a Pine Tree, and The Visit of the Three Wise Men. |
As I read to them I asked about who was born on Christmas day? Why were the three wise men following the star? I also shared with them our Three Kings Day tradition of putting grass in a shoe box for the king’s camels. For more information on this tradition you can read here. Following story time, we had crafts!
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| Glitter, glitter everywhere! They had glue, and glitter to decorate the crowns. |
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| Glitter was all over the place. |
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| A wonderful mommy helping her girls decorate the tp roll crown. |
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| Craft fun! |
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| They even colored the inside of the shoe boxes. |
What fun traditions do you still have with your family? Please share, like and/or comment. ¡Gracias!
The kids were excited, and had lots of fun! We had our cultural play date a few days before Three Kings Day, so we didn’t go out to get grass for the camels. However, on January 5th we will go out with little one to get some grass for the camels, and set a bowl for water, too. The camels may be thirsty, too you know. 🙂
The kids were excited, and had lots of fun! We had our cultural play date a few days before Three Kings Day, so we didn’t go out to get grass for the camels. However, on January 5th we will go out with little one to get some grass for the camels, and set a bowl for water, too. The camels may be thirsty, too you know. 🙂
I love the concept of "Three Kings Day," and keep saying each year we're going to do this……. It doesn't happen. Next year, NEXT YEAR will be the day!
Hi Ticia! Thanks for stopping by! Hey, you still have 3 days to make it happen 🙂 Three Kings Day is on Sunday.
I love it. We have never celebrated either in my childhood or with my own kids but I may start a crafting tradition instead of actually celebrating gifts from the kings. You got me brainstorming.
Hola
Oh, how fun!! We haven't done anything to celebrate before, but I would love to start the tradition. I love your craft ideas as well. Thank you for sharing at Sharing Saturday!!
Thank you Mari! That's definitely a great idea, and thanks for pinning on Pinterest. 🙂
Thank you Carrie for stopping by! You should start the tradition with your kids, I'm sure they'll love it!
Hi Frances, This looks like so much fun. We also celebrated Epiphany in our household. We used to have these figurines of the wise men and their camels and we would start them far away from the manger and each day we would move them closer until they arrived (Jan. 6th). Ah, memories.
Thanks for sharing your post in the Kid Lit Blog Hop. Glad you could join us again. We'll be at it again next week – hope you'll join us! 🙂
Hi Renee! Thank you so much for stopping by! Ahhh I love that idea of moving the wise men away from the manger…I think I will do that next year. Brilliant! Looking forward to your next blog hop, I have some thing in the works. 🙂 Thank you!
Okay, we are totally doing this next year! Frances, I love your cultural playdates! I am so jealous of the families that live near you – wish we did, too!
Thank you Leanna! OMG, if you were closer you'd be the first on my guest list! 😉
Thank you so much for this post! My husband & I celebrate Dia de Reyes with our children in a city where it seems like no one else does. I love the fun ideas.
Hahahaha I totally know how you feel! The day after Christmas all the decorations are gone! Not in our home….everything stays on until January 6th! Enjoy your Dia de Reyes with your family. 🙂