More than 65 million Hispanic people live in the United States, according to 2023 census information, which is nearly 20 percent of the country’s population. Using information from 2022, 17 cities in Ohio have at least a 10 percent Hispanic population. Lorain topped the list at 28.6 percent, with Cleveland, Painesville, and Brooklyn also on the list.
This means that Northeast Ohio has a special reason to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, which began in 1968. Going from September 15 through October 15, this time period was chosen because many Latin American countries, plus Mexico and Chile, celebrate their independence days on one of those dates.
Each year, Hispanic Heritage Month comes with a theme. This year, it’s “Collective Heritage: Honoring the Past, Inspiring the Future.” Here are four ways to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month in 2025 with your family.
If your children don’t already know how to speak Spanish, consider using the Spanish School Bus app. It’s a perfect time to learn alongside them. You can put sticky notes with both English and Spanish words on objects in your home, practice the language in conversational phrases, and more. If your family is already fluent in Spanish, talk about its different dialects in Spain, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and so forth. Here’s a helpful video.
For younger children, select music from PBS Kids from their list of songs for Hispanic Heritage Month and simply let them listen, enjoy, and move to the beat. For older children, teach them how to dance the salsa, rumba, cha-cha, merengue, and samba with these dance videos.
Parents.com makes recommendations, starting with the Who Was book series for children in grades three or up. Your family can learn about the fascinating lives of baseball icon Roberto Clemente, pop music star Selena, courageous activist Cesar Chavez and many more. For younger children, the parenting site recommends the Lil' Libros board books.
WeAreTeachers.com notes how families can adapt a school-like project for the home. You can assign a specific country to your children or let them choose one. Each child, depending upon their age, can do the project independently or your kids can do it as a group. Again, depending upon their age, they can create a meal from an assigned Hispanic country to serve everyone, play music from the culture, sing and dance, create picture boards, and so forth.
At Horizon, we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and appreciate and honor other cultures throughout the year. In fact, we embrace diversity every day, recognizing the inherent value and worth of every child and the many places we all come from. Learn more about Horizon, schedule a tour at the location of your choice.