MEMPHIS, Tenn. — National Hispanic Heritage Month kicked off Sunday, and the Children's Museum of Memphis is celebrating with various themes. As part of their educational programming, the events encourage participants to grow their knowledge of roots in the nations of Central and South America.
The celebration is from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, recognizing the national independence of countries like Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras. To celebrate the first day of the month, the Children's Museum of Memphis featured events that aim to delve deep into four countries, with week one focused on Mexico, week two on El Salvador, week three on Colombia and week four on Puerto Rico.
"I also don't want to ostracize any other people who might not fit into that culture, who are not Hispanic or even from that specific country, because this is also for them, is to educate them," Genesis Valles, the visitor services coordinator for the Children's Museum of Memphis said. "It's to expose them, show in what ways we are unique, and then how we can come together to celebrate that."
Sunday's festivities began with an event that included indigenous dancers, arts and crafts, and a play. Valles said she wanted to tie in history while exposing children to these cultures.
"Along with that, we're mixing in a lot of language learning as well," she said. "For every pop-up activity, I go in-depth into some of the Spanish words that are associated with each pop-up activity. I kind of walk them through the pronunciation, etc. So we really try to educate them on the history of what we're doing and why we're doing it."
Every week's activities are intended to expose children to different cultures within the Hispanic community and what makes them unique.
In addition to the Children's Museum events, there are other ways to celebrate. Latin Fest 901 is one of the larger events scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 21, starting at noon.