Our Creative Minds Youth Program students have been working on creating an Easter Egg Tree this session. In the past two weeks, they have made clay eggs and painted blown-out eggs and in the next couple of weeks, we will show them how to create their very own cascarónes. Here is a brief history of this joyful and loving Mexican tradition.
Cascarónes are hollowed-out eggs brightly colored filled with confetti and cracked over one another’s heads. They are used during festive times like Easter, parties, and Cinco de Mayo.
Cascarónes are similar to Easter eggs and are decorative eggs used for festive times. While Easter eggs have a tradition of being hidden, cascarónes are cracked on people’s heads. It is believed that having an egg cracked on your head will bring you good fortune. It is also a way of showing affection towards others.
According to historians, cascarónes originated in China and the tradition was brought to Europe in the 13th century and became popular in Mexico in the mid-1800s. The eggs used to contain perfumed powders that made them very expensive and popular with high-society women. The tradition of breaking an egg on another’s head comes from Spain. When a child misbehaves, the father would crack an egg on their head. Today the meaning has changed instead of raw egg or perfumed powders confetti falls upon the loved one.