On Sunday, December 20th, Rivera Cuale held a piñata-making workshop for the neighbourhood kids. The idea was to make it a fun event, a posada, in time for Christmas so the kids could make their own piñatas to take home for the holidays. 
Almost 30 children came, from ages two to teen, many with sisters, brothers and mothers to enjoy the festive event. La Señora Hortencia, who has a piñata shop on Calle Aquiles Serdan in Old Town Vallarta led the workshop, with her over 20 years of experience in the piñata business.
In line with the environmental and recycling theme of the river clean-up event held in June, the kids were encouraged to bring materials from home that they could recycle into their piñatas: plastic pop bottles, thin cardboard, and newspaper. 
The event was held in the Discovery Center, which previously housed Rivera Cuale’s sales office. A line was strung across each of the center’s two main rooms, and from there the kids tied strings. Then pop bottles that had been cut in half were tied to the strings, to form the base for the piñatas. Next, cardboard was rolled and applied to the pop bottles to form the points of the piñatas, which were then covered in shiny paper. Colorful tissue paper was then folded and cut to be glued onto the piñatas as bands and streamers. Last, glittery garland was wound around the piñatas in a final festive touch.
The kids enjoyed themselves, nibbling on snacks throughout the afternoon as they shaped their piñatas. Hortencia’s daughter was also on site to help them, and she handed out bags of home-popped popcorn and candy, to complete the piñata-making experience.
It was a beautiful sun-shining afternoon, full of laughter, learning and camaraderie, and good community feeling. The kids left smiling and saying “gracias”, proudly toting their piñatas along with them. All in all, about 25 piñatas were made.
Leanne Smith
I welcome your questions and comments!