Pinatas and Decorations
Pinatas have been used for hundreds of years in Latin America to celebrate special occasions such as Birthdays and Christmas. It is very strong tradition in all Latin America where all kids parties have pinatas. Now we find also in the last 50 years, it has become popular in North America, where now the word "pinata" is fast becoming a household word.
The traditional star-shaped pinata design is believed to represent the Star of Bethlehem, the star that guided the wise men and shepherds in their search for the Messiah. The celebration commonly known as a posada is a popular Hispanic celebration during the Christmas season.
The exact origin of the pinata party game is hotly disputed, with contenders for its origin coming from Europe in ancient times. Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece have all claimed that the game originated in their country. Many also believe that the origins maybe found in China. Belief has it that it first started simply as a painted clay pot decorated with colorful paper and filled with small gifts. Even today, many in central and southern Mexico are still use the clay pot as opposed to the paper Mache pinata that we are more inclined to think of.
Here at the Card Cottage we offer many designs for you to choose from, many of which will fit into the theme of your party. If you do not see a design in our shop that you like contact us to see if we can supply one that fits your desires.
How to Play the Pinata Party Game
Whether you are thinking of hosting an adult or childrens indoor or outdoor party, the pinata party game is sure to prove a very popular party game. Traditionally, the pinata party game is the "main event" during a childrens outdoor birthday party. Normally, the traditional pinata game as described below is played as an outdoor party game, but that does not mean you cannot play it indoors. However, you must be aware that the game does require space so that no danger of injury is created for the persons taking part.
Items you will require to play the game
There are only five things required to play the Pinata game, all of which are easy to acquire.
A rope or suitable place to suspend the Pinata from. A Tree branch is very good, so is a basketball hoop. Or you could have two adults hold the ends of a rope and have the Pinata hang in the middle of the rope.
Items to stuff the Pinata. Ideally this would be small sweets / candies or you could use small toy gifts, the choice of stuffing is yours. Please be aware of safety though. The Pinata is held in the air and heavy objects used to stuff the Pinata could hurt when they do eventually fall from it.
A Pinata Buster Stick. As you will discover when you read how to play the game below a stick is used by the participants of the game.
A Blindfold again see instructions below.
Finally the Pinata itself.
How to play
Fill the pinata with the items you have choosen as stuffing. It is good practice to do this before any of your guests arrive, this then adds to the element of suprise.
When you're ready to play the game, hang the pinata from your designated place in the party game area. This you must be aware of must not be to high that no one can reach it and not such that it causes a danger when playing the game. 
First of all organise the games participants in a line, starting with the smallest one all the way to the tallest one. Traditionally, children over 3 years old are blindfolded. Once ready the participants are in turn spun around a few times, provided with the pinata buster stick and let loose to play the party game by hitting the pinata.
Allow each child to take their turn to hit the pinata at least a couple of times before you move on to the next child. To make the pinata party game even more fun, you may swing the pinata up and down. Also the other guests can be encouraged to shout directions to the pinata hitter. Again to add a little more fun encourage the guests to shout the wrong directions, for example up when it should be down and left when the hitter should move right etc
For safety's sake, when a hitter is trying to hit the pinata during the game, all other guests should be kept at a safe distance (a minimum 15' radius is recommended) from the hitter. Also when the Pinata is burst make sure that the hitter has ceased hitting before allowing the other guests to rush forward to grab the sweets / candies or toy gifts. This safety instruction is of utmost importance and cannot be emphasized enough.
You may also throw sweets / candy with your hands while the pinata is being hit. This then makes sure that all guests have fun, make sure that all children have gotten some candy at the end of the game.
