how to celebrate hispanic heritage month

hispanic heritage month activities for the office

This article will feature 10+ ways to celebrate hispanic heritage month including team building activities and games!

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month at work is an incredible way to promote inclusivity, diversity, and a greater cultural understanding. We know that minority communities often don’t feel represented and honored, and your company can make a difference here. By honoring Hispanic culture, you will contribute to a positive working environment, and their experience at your company matters, which will boost self-esteem and a sense of belonging and recognition.

For your teams, Hispanic Heritage Month is an opportunity to expand their cultural knowledge and awareness, and planning and hosting HHM team-building activities can strengthen relationships among employees, boost collaboration and provide an opportunity to have fun and connect outside the work agenda. Check out 10+ ideas to celebrate HHM this September:

1. Latin American coffee tasting

Latin America is known for being one of the leading coffee-growing and exporting regions. Many people regularly enjoy Brazilian, Colombian, and even Costa Rican coffee! Invite your team to learn about coffee tasting and pouring while learning about coffee-growing regions.

KraftyLab's coffee-tasting experience is an all-inclusive coffee-tasting session featuring premium coffee and a pouring kit. Choosing a coffee-tasting experience with a company you'd be comfortable supporting, like YIELD coffee, can make all the difference. YIELD Coffee is a sustainable, relational coffee company focused on long-term sustainability helping local communities through fair pay and community initiatives.

2. Explore Latin American cuisine

A virtual cooking class is a serious treat for any remote team! Cooking can be a fun and relaxing experience and help further a skill we can use in our everyday lives. We want our teams to enjoy this session, so check with them ahead of time. It would suck to receive a kit or invitation to a session and not be able to participate because of a dietary restriction or preference. You may need to check with an instructor about substitutions or provide a shopping list to make this experience inclusive.

Latin America is also known for its many delicious (and portable) foods like tacos, empanadas, and arepas. Learn how to make some delicious street tacos with our Taco Making experience, hosted by a chef live from Mexico City. Alternatively, you can invite your team to make arepas and cachapas in this Venezuelan Street Food experience, or enjoy traditional Argentinian empanadas and dulce de leche ice cream!

3. Host a Latin American Happy Hour

While most people may be familiar with the classic Margarita, Latin America is known for its many delicious and refreshing drinks. Invite your team to enjoy a Mexican Paloma, a grapefruit and tequila-based drink, a Cuban mojito for its refreshing mint flavor, or a Puerto Rican Pina Colada that is rich, tangy, and sweet from the pineapple and coconut milk involved.

Invite your team to a fantastic happy hour experience featuring delicious Latin American cocktails and mocktails. KraftyLab offers a mixology class and kit that will suit any team. The all-inclusive kit features core cocktail-making equipment that your team can repeatedly use and some core ingredients to make your drinks. Alcohol is not included, so participants can provide alcohol or enjoy some tasty mocktails.

4. Play a game of Latin American trivia

Challenge your teams to test their knowledge with fun categories like Latin American food, icons, history, and geography. KraftyLab's team trivia experience is customizable for any event, including themes like Hispanic Heritage Month. Our lively host is a professional stand-up comic who will guarantee your team a fantastic time!

If you are looking for an easy way to connect with your teams during Hispanic Heritage Month, throwing a quick trivia question up on your work channel or social media can be fantastic! Trivia questions are a quick way to help your teams engage and add a little novelty to your day-to-day routine. Check out a recent blog post featuring 30+ Hispanic Heritage trivia questions to kick you off!

5. Support Latin American restaurants

Supporting local restaurants and small business owners is a great way to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. You can surprise your team with an e-gift card (GrubHub or UberEats) for your Friday meeting and treat everyone to lunch! It will make their day as free lunch is always a well-received perk and can make for a memorable team experience.

If you want to host a team lunch, give plenty of notice so the team can order lunch ahead and enjoy a meal together. Alternatively, lunch can be a great way to round off your Hispanic Heritage celebrations. You can encourage the team to share their meals on Slack or social media and discuss everyone's favorite dishes. Connect and check with their team as to what they prefer!

Pro Tip: Elevate the experience by featuring some mouth-watering food shows featuring Latin Americans, such as Netflix's Street Food: Latin America or Taco Chronicles. Invite your team to watch these ahead of your potluck or cooking class to inspire and entertain them!

6. KID FRIENDLY CRAFT SESSION

Latin America is full of rich traditions, and art is an awesome way to learn about culture through a hands-on session. If you are looking for a family-friendly event for Hispanic Heritage Month, an arts and crafts session is perfect, as your instructor can cater this experience to all age groups.

Hojalata: Hojalata is a traditional and folk Mexican art form, and it is a great way to show that you can make art with often discarded materials. Typically, hojalata has been used to create sculptures, ornaments, and picture frames. For kids, you may go ahead and choose permanent markers and paint to create their tin masterpieces.
Papel Picado: Papel Picado is a traditional Mexican decoration, often used during big celebrations like Dia De Muertos or Christmas. It is made by stacking many sheets of paper and using a chisel to cut the designs. These decorations can be as simple or intricate as you want them to be, making them accessible for the whole family.

7. HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH BOOK CLUB

If your team already hosts a book club, or if you know the team would be up for a little reading challenge, how about sending them a copy of a novel or book by a Latin American author?

How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (1991) by Julia Alvarez is a well-loved and regarded coming-of-age story. This novel explores themes of acculturation with four sisters' lives and stories in New York City after leaving the Dominican Republic behind.
The Poet X (2018) by Elizabeth Acevedo is a contemporary YA coming-of-age novel about a young girl discovering herself and defying her family's expectations through her love and pursuit of spoken poetry.

8. HISPANIC HERITAGE FILM/DOCUMENTARY SCREENING

A watch party is a fantastic way to spend time with the team and have a chance to break down a fun movie or show together.

Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado, directed by Cristina Costantini and Kareem Tabsch (Netflix), is a documentary film about the iconic Puerto Rican astrologer and legend Walter Mercado, his work, life, and legacy.
Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It, directed by Mariem Pérez Riera (Amazon), is a documentary film bout the EGOT winner and Puerto Rican movie star Rita Moreno. She reflects on her journey to stardom and her life-long career in this film.

The main-take away

Whether you host a movie night, play a game of trivia, or invite your team to a cocktail party, celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month is all about intention. You can make a difference in your company's culture by choosing to honor and celebrate your Latin American employees and their heritage, fostering a sense of belonging and community. Your employees deserve a fun team-building experience, and celebrating cultural diversity is a bonus to any team-building event.