Music, color, and creativity come together in this fun Mexican guitar craft designed for kids ages 5–9. They’ll make a festive paper guitar inspired by traditional Mexican celebrations. The activity takes about 20 to 30 minutes and encourages kids to use their imagination, fine motor skills, and artistic expression.

If you enjoy easy and creative projects like this one, be sure to check out even more Cinco de Mayo activities that kids can make to get festive and celebrate!

Collage of hands assembling and decorating a paper Cinco de Mayo guitar craft with finished colorful guitars displayed.

Festive Cinco de Mayo Activity

Kids love projects that let them play with color and design, and this Mexican guitar craft does just that! They’ll create a guitar out of colorful paper, then decorate it however they like. Crayons, markers, stickers, or patterned paper can turn a simple template into a lively instrument inspired by Mexican decorations and festive celebrations.

This activity also works nicely during lessons about Mexican culture or when planning Cinco de Mayo crafts for a classroom party. The simple supplies and creative freedom help children focus on expressing their ideas while learning about another culture through art.

Print out our guitar template, gather a few basic supplies, and follow the instructions below to get started on this colorful Mexican guitar. Kids will soon have a fun decoration they can proudly display or use to pretend they’re in a mariachi band!

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Supplies

Colored cardstock or construction paper
Scissors
Glue
Markers
Ruler
Mexican Guitar Template (click the “click here to get your freebies” image at the end of the post)

Directions

Start by printing the template, then gather the materials for this fun activity. Get those scissors ready, and let’s help the kids bring this Mexican guitar to life!

Hands holding a printable template of a paper Mexican guitar craft with outlined pieces and a smiling face.

Take the neck piece and the top of guitar piece. Help your child glue the top of guitar onto the upper end of the neck.

Hands placing a teal paper guitar head onto a brown paper neck piece on a white surface.

Glue the finished neck piece to the top of the guitar’s body. Line it up so it sits right above the guitar’s sound hole.

Hands attaching a brown paper guitar neck to a yellow guitar body with a circular sound hole.

Using a ruler and a marker, draw straight lines from the neck area down across the guitar’s sound hole to make the strings.

Hands using a ruler and pink marker to draw straight lines for guitar strings on a paper guitar craft.

Take the eye pieces and glue them just below the sound hole, placing them side by side right above the smile.

Hands placing a googly eye onto a smiling yellow paper guitar craft with drawn strings.

Using a marker, draw eyebrows just above the eyes.

Hands drawing facial details on a yellow paper guitar craft with a black marker.

Grab a pink marker and color in the mouth area to add the tongue. This little pop of color helps the face stand out and gives your guitar an extra happy, playful look.

Hands coloring the mouth on a smiling yellow paper guitar craft with a pink marker.

Look for the body decoration, and glue it to the bottom part of the guitar’s body. This layered piece instantly gives the guitar that bright mariachi inspired look.

Hands attaching a red paper piece to the bottom of a decorated yellow guitar craft.

Using a ruler and marker, draw a straight decorative line across the body about an inch above the body decoration.

Hands using a ruler and green marker to draw decorative lines on a paper guitar craft.

Using a different marker, add dots between the decorative line and the bottom body decoration. This is a fun step where kids can get creative and watch their guitar come to life with each colorful detail.

Hands drawing dotted decorative details on a colorful paper guitar craft with a marker.

Glue the colorful circle decorations or stickers across the guitar’s body. These finishing touches make the craft feel done and give it that bold, celebratory look.

Hands adding colorful dot decorations to a completed paper Mexican guitar craft with a smiling face.

Don’t forget to add some stickers to the bottom body decoration. Let your child choose and decorate it their own way for a fun, personal touch.

Hands placing colorful circle decorations along the bottom of a completed paper Mexican guitar craft.

Continue adding stickers and decorations until your guitar looks bright, festive, and full of personality!

Hands pressing down colorful dot decorations on a completed paper Mexican guitar craft.

Once the last pieces are in place, your child will have an adorable finished Mexican guitar craft they can be proud of.

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Making this cheerful guitar is a fun way for kids to express creativity while working on important fine motor skills. There is no right or wrong way to decorate, so kids can design their guitar however they like.

Take a look at the related crafts below to keep the fun going with even more ideas.

Hands holding a completed colorful paper Mexican guitar craft with decorative patterns and a smiling face.

Cinco De Mayo Books for Children

Living In Mexico is a great book to read to little kids. It follows a child in Mexico and talks about culture, geography, and more!

Off We Go To Mexico takes kids on some of the fun adventures they’ll have in Mexico, plus it teaches Spanish words and phrases!

Chicano Jr.’s Mexican Adventure is another children’s book that dives into the cultures and adventure of a child born in the US, but with Mexican heritage!

A completed craft showing two colorful paper Mexican guitar crafts with decorative patterns and smiling faces on a white surface.

Mexican Kids’ Crafts

Cactus Paper Cup Craft – Turn a simple paper cup into a prickly pal kids will love! This fun cactus project has your kiddos cut and decorate our free template to transform a cup into a cute desert plant. They’ll enjoy decorating their cactus creation and seeing their paper cup bloom into a cheerful cactus friend.

Sombrero Headband Craft – Kids will be excited to wear a colorful headband topped with a sombrero to their next fiesta! They’ll enjoy creating their festive creations while imagining lively music and dancing. This simple activity turns creative time into a mini celebration and makes a fun accessory to wear on Cinco de Mayo.

Cactus Paper Plate Craft – Bring the desert to art time by turning a paper plate into a cute cactus! Kids can paint their plate a bright green, then add fun details from our free template. Soon their prickly plant will be ready to show off, and ready for any fiesta!

Taco Craft – Cinco de Mayo is a fun chance to mix creativity and culture into the day. Kids will love making a cute taco craft with our free template. Little ones will layer colorful “fillings” like green lettuce, bright red tomatoes, and shredded cheese inside a smiling taco shell for a festive paper fiesta!

Classroom Activities

Turn practicing numbers into a little fiesta with these Cinco de Mayo connect the dots pages! Kids will count their way through the dots to reveal fun surprises like maracas, a guitar, a cactus, and a horse piñata.

They’ll stay busy tracing lines, building focus, and number skills, then when the picture appears, their excitement will grow. Once they finish connecting the dots, grab some crayons, and bring the festive design to life with bright colors!

Bring a little festive fun to learning time with these Cinco de Mayo activity sheets! Kids will explore matching, counting, and problem solving while spotting festive favorites like sombreros, maracas, cacti, and avocados.

Shadow matching turns careful observation into a puzzle, mazes guide maracas on a twisty journey to the guitar, and matching games challenge kids to find lookalikes. Finally, the count and graph page adds early math practice to the mix.

A completed craft showing a decorated paper Mexican guitar craft with a smiling face and craft supplies on a table.

These Cinco de Mayo color by numbers will have kids matching numbers to colors to reveal festive surprises like a sombrero, maracas, cactus, and a tasty taco.

Your little learners will practice number recognition, color skills, and fine motor control with each space colored in. These easy print-and-go pages will bring a bit of Mexican themed creativity to any celebration.

Time for a game of bingo! These Cinco de Mayo bingo printables are filled with colorful images like maracas, sombreros, and cacti. This lively game will help build vocabulary, recognition skills, and focus while keeping everyone engaged.

As numbers or pictures are called, children practice paying attention, taking turns, and following the rules. Soon the room fills with excitement as someone calls out “Bingo!”

Did you make this activity with your kids or students? We’d love to feature them on our social media!

For a chance to have your child’s project featured, simply snap a picture of the completed project and post it to our Facebook page, email it to us directly by clicking here, or use #simpleeverydaymom on your social media!

Free Mexican Guitar Template

Illustration of red-handled scissors next to the text "Click here to get your freebie" on a blue background, with a green button below that says "Grab it here."

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