hunt for cascarones!

This week in Dean’s classroom, we dyed eggs (4 dozen!), then spooned confetti – a fine motor skill – into each egg.  Finally, today, the only sunny day this week (and if the weather reports are correct, the last one for a while), we walked to the park and hunted for cascarones!  Instead of the traditional cracking of cascarones on each other’s heads, we showed the kids how to crack them in their hands and toss the confetti up into the air.  It seemed like a better option for 3- and 4-year-olds.
 
I‘m still not sure exactly why we do this.  But it’s the first time I started searching.  Stay tuned.

Remembering cascarones

This Easter I am teaching Dean's classroom how to make cascarones.  I can't wait to share this family tradition - it's amazing how little is known throughout this country about this funny little custom.  Even during my college years at Texas A&M University, it was surprising how few Texans had ever heard of cascarones - except for those from San Antonio.  One of Dean's teachers lived in Houston and she said that she had never heard of them.  She asked if there were any books on them.  I told her I would check.  So I have been scouring the internet in search of a book that could help explain cascarones.  To be fair, there are a few children's books that discuss or mention cascarones, but not quite how I would explain them from my own memory and experience.  Then again, I started thinking: we never really discussed in my family what the origins were.  I guess I never questioned it.   

Why did we save eggshells during Lent, decorate them and fill them with confetti, then find and gather them on our Easter Egg hunt, where Mom and Dad (or the Easter bunny) had tucked them into all the hiding places in our backyard, only to crack them on each other's heads?  Where did this come from?  Moving around the country during my formative years as an Air Force brat, I slowly realized that other families just didn't do this.  Then in San Antonio, where my family ended up "returning" (for my parents it was returning, but I am only beginning to think of San Antonio as home - more on that later), cascarones are everywhere - not only for Easter, but during Fiesta Week to celebrate the battle of San Jacinto and Texas Independence.

So back to the book.  I am still unsatisfied from my search.  So now I am adding "Write a children's book on cascarones." to my never-ending list.  I'm actually pretty excited about this.  For Dean's class, I'm just going to have to wing it.