How to Make Cascarones in Spanish class
Want to teach your students about a fun (and messy) Easter celebration from the Spanish-speaking world? Have your class make cascarones!
Cascarones are hollowed-out eggs that have been dyed and filled with confetti. Not only are they fun to make but the best part is smashing them over someone’s head! So no need to tell you that your students will love them…
These eggs have a special place in my heart because when I was a child we often visited my grandparents over Easter, who lived in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, right by the Mexican border. Cascarones were very common there and my brother and I had so much fun chasing each other with them.
As I was researching cascarones I discovered two interesting things. First, no one really knows where they came from. Some information I read posits that they came from Spain where children were punished by having a raw egg cracked on their head–yikes! Other sources said that Marco Polo brought perfumed eggs from China and much later Empress Carlota, the husband of the short-lived Hapsburg Emperor of Mexico, Maximilian, brought them to Mexico.
However they got to Mexico, they were originally used for Carnival celebrations, which would make sense because Carnival is the time for parties and to go a bit wild. It seems like in the United States they have since become an Easter tradition, which makes sense since they are eggs, and Carnival isn’t really celebrated in the Protestant-majority U.S.
In the past few years, I’ve even seen cascarones being sold in Walgreen’s in Wisconsin, so it’s interesting to see how traditions and customs spread from place to place.
The second interesting tidbit is that I’ve found people talking about using them in Texas, Arizona, and the U.S. border states, El Salvador (where they are called huevos chimbos), and Guatemala. I’m not sure if the tradition has migrated anywhere else, but if you’ve seen them outside of these countries leave a comment below.
If you want to celebrate this tradition in your classroom, you can either buy them for around $5 a dozen (affiliate link, thanks for supporting my work!) or make them yourself. Making them in class is a bit messy but totally doable. You may want to dye the eggs yourself ahead of time, or at least take the yolks out, if you are trying to do this with students.
Step 1: With a spoon or knife crack just the top of the egg and pour out the egg white and egg yolk (chilaquiles anyone?)
Step 2: Dye the eggs bright colors (this was natural dye and I wasn’t super happy with the colors). Make sure to buy white eggs for the best results.
Step 3: Cut the confetti, either in small squares with a paper cutter or use a three-hole punch to make smaller round confetti.
Step 4: Once the eggs are completely dried, fill them about halfway with confetti. It helps to have them in an egg carton to keep them upright.
Step 5: Cut circles out of tissue paper to cover the top of the egg. Make a ring with glue around the top and carefully press the paper onto the egg.
Now you are ready to celebrate!
Every cultural lesson is also an opportunity for language learning, so to get your students listening, reading, and writing about cascarones check out this no-prep resource.
Below are the most recent student-friendly videos that I’ve found on social media. They show three very different perspectives on cascarones! Enjoy!
Cascarones en Guatemala
Instagram: Miguel Babo
History of Cascarones (in English)
TikTok: Cadena Collective
Cascaronería en Zacatecas, Mexico
Instagram: Cascaronería Zacatecas
