Eisenhower High School gave its students a taste of Hispanic culture in September.

Students participating in crafternoon tried their hands at making piñatas, a traditional Hispanic container often made of papier mache and filled with candy, fruit or small toys. Fillings are released when blindfolded people swing a stick at the hanging piñata, attempting to break it.

“Piñatas for Hispanic Heritage Month,” said Eisenhower High library media specialist Ashley Romero, explaining she specifically chose the craft to mark the month (Sept. 15-Oct. 15) that celebrates Hispanic culture.

Romero prepared for the event before students arrived, arranging the donkey/llama cardboard cutouts that students would connect with cardboard strips to create the form; glue guns to provide the heavy duty glue needed to hold the cardboard; strips of crepe paper; and bottles of glue to attach the strips to the form.

Romero’s goal: give students basic directions – glue your cardboard forms together and cover them with strips of crepe paper cut into fringe – then let them handle the job without oversight. The end result was a piñata, easily identifiable with Hispanic culture and reflecting each student artist, just as Pedro the Piñata (Romero’s creation) reflected her taste.

“Everyone can do what they want,” she said, adding that Pedro was standing by to show students what the final product should look like. “It’s fun to get them all involved.”

Two tables were covered in crepe paper of varied colors: red, pink, orange, shades of blue and green, purple and yellow, with students encouraged to pick the colors that best reflected them. While giving just basic instructions, Romero didn’t take a completely hands-off approach.

“Don’t burn your fingers,” she warned one student, who was using a glue gun to fasten their donkey forms together.

“Let it dry before you let it go,” Romero cautioned several students holding cardboard pieces in place.

Many participants agreed the most difficult part was building the cardboard form. Each worked carefully, with some sharing tips and answering classmate questions.

“How do you do the tail?” one boy asked, as a classmate quickly offered to help.

Ty Austin, sophomore, had glued his form together and was searching for blue crepe paper.

“I like the color blue,” he said, sorting through strips of crepe paper to find enough blues for his tiny burro.

Romero said Austin’s plan was exactly the idea.

“Whatever they feel,” she said.

Steven Arellanez, sophomore, wanted something different.

“I really like variety,” he said of his plan to use multiple colors. “That’s one of my favorite things in art. I think I will do warm colors.”

At another table, students were using their imaginations to decide colors. One student was using red, yellow and orange; another was focused on yellow and blue. Vada Melton, sophomore, said her colors reflected her tastes.

“Yellow is my favorite color,” she said, adding that pink seemed the best color to set off the yellow.

Romero said the craft illustrated the whole point of crafternoon: Get students into the library to interact with each other and participate in activities.

“Whoever wants to come will come,” she said.