A piñata is a container, which is usually brightly colored and decorated, made of cardboard or similar material that holds candy, trinkets, and toys. A piñata is generally suspended from a rope and is broken open by blindfolded children wielding batons or sticks during a celebration or party. The piñata is a celebratory custom having a strong association with Mexico, but has been found in use at celebrations world wide for hundreds of years. In the United States, breaking a piñata is a frequent game at children’s birthday parties.

The traditional piñata was always a container broken open with a stick, but due to the potential dangers and injuries resulting from blindfolded children swinging ball bats, a safer version of the piñata has emerged. Many commercially retailed piñatas now feature an array of pull strings dangling from the bottom, only one of which will actually release the contents from the bottom of the piñata through flap-like trap door. Children take turns pulling a single string until the one that opens the flap is pulled. Though this modified piñata design is quite popular amongst parents, the original style still exists.

Due to the piñata’s popularity at celebrations and parties, many people feel it important to have one that coordinates with a party theme. Though it is traditionally an animal, a piñata can be any shape. Many licensed characters are available in the form of a piñata and availability varies with current popularity and trends. In addition to buying commercially manufactured piñatas, they can also be made from cardboard boxes, papier-mache, or even clay.

The contents of a piñata were traditionally fruits and sugarcane, though modern fillers have expanded to include all varieties of candy, gum, and other sweets, along with trinkets and toys like bouncy balls, spinning tops, plastic jewelry, and any other variety of small objects that children favor. Most children have no preference over the type of filling, but rather enjoy the momentary anticipation of trying to release whatever is hidden inside.

Piñatas come in many shapes and sizes. Donkeys and stars are popular piñata styles, yet piñatas can be made to look like any animal, popular cartoon character or shape. But it doesn’t matter how cute the piñata is, for even the most creatively crafted piñata will likely suffer the same fate: being smashed open with a stick.Piñatas are hollow paper sculptures. They are typically made from papier mâché and covered with brightly colored tissue paper.

The piñata is filled with candy or treats. At parties, piñatas are hung from the ceiling. Children take turns trying to hit the piñata with a stick to break open the piñata and release the treats. A piñata is used just once, for it is destroyed when it is broken open.