Oak Forest HS Students Learn About Cascarones

Oak Forest High School Spanish Honors students Briana Alarcon and Wirada Kornkrasunk laugh as cascarones are broken over their heads. They are part of a class that is learning about cascarones as a cultural activity in class. Oak Forest High School Spanish teacher John Stevens said, “Cascarones or confetti eggs are festive, hollowed-out chicken eggs filled with confetti or small toys.” Although they started out as a way for men to get an attractive woman’s attention by throwing cascarones full of perfume at beautiful women, now they are used in celebration of Easter. Other holidays also are celebrated with cascarones, special occasions such as a birthday, but also for Halloween, Cinco de Mayo, Dieciseis, Day of the Dead, and weddings in which the cascarones are often filled with birdseed. Stevens said, “In Spanish, cáscara means shell and cascarón means eggshell. Cascarones are common throughout Latin American and are similar to the Easter eggs popular in many other countries. They are mostly used in Mexico during Carnival, but in U.S. and Mexico border towns the cultures combined making them a popular Easter tradition.” Students crushed these cascarones over each other’s heads in order to shower them with confetti. Having a cascarón broken over one's head is said to bring good luck.