April 30th – Children’s Day (Día del Niño)

The Day of the Child (Día del Niño) is a Mexican cultural, not statutory, holiday.  Employees do not receive a day off (with or without pay).  Banks, schools, government offices, and businesses are open as usual, although sometimes schools either close or hold a carnival celebrating Día del Niño.  

Since 1925, El Día del Niño (The Day of the Child or Children’s Day) has grown as an annual celebration throughout Mexico. This day recognizes children, pays homage to their importance in society, and endorses their well being.  

The Day of the Child (Día del Niño) is celebrated in Mexico on April 30th .  There is no real counterpart to this holiday in the United States, which often leads Americans to underestimate the importance of the day in Mexican culture.  Mexican parents try to make this day special for their children for the same reasons parents try to make birthdays special for their children.

Schools often celebrate El Día del Niño with what they call a carnival.  It includes things like food, games, and dances.  Sometimes teachers (and children) will wear festive clothing, such as traditional clothing associated with bailes folklóricos (traditional Mexican folk dances).  School playgrounds are often decorated with streamers and balloons.

Parents often take children out to eat, have a party, or plan an activity their children will enjoy such as going to the park or a movie.  In Mexico children (and their parents) look forward to El Día del Niño, after all what child doesn't enjoy a day at school without classes.  (Those dating a Mexican woman with children are advised not to ignore this date.)  

 
The History of El Día del Niño (Day of the Child)
Children’s Day is celebrated to honor children on various days in many places throughout the world. International Children’s Day is celebrated on June 1st by many countries in the former Communist bloc.  The United Nations sponsors November 20th as Universal Children’s Day.  The Day of the Child is celebrated in Mexico on April 30th.

The World Conference for the Well-being of Children in Geneva, Switzerland proclaimed June 1st to be International Children's Day in 1925.  It is not clear as to why June 1st was chosen as the International Children's Day, but one theory has it that the Chinese consul-general in San Francisco gathered a number of Chinese orphans to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival in 1925, which happened to be on June 1st that year, and also coincided with the conference in Geneva.  

Universal Children's Day takes place on November 20th annually. First proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1954, it was established to encourage all countries to institute a day, firstly to promote mutual exchange and understanding among children and secondly to initiate action to benefit and promote the welfare of the world's children. November 20th is also the anniversary of the day when the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959. The Convention on the Rights of the Child was then signed on the same day in 1989, which has since been ratified by 191 states.

Mexico celebrates El Día del Niño (Day of the Child) on April 30th because in Mexico November 20th is the traditional date of the Mexican Día de la Revolucíon (Revolution Day) federal holiday in remembrance of  the Mexican Revolution that began on November 20, 1910, which resulted in the overthrow of the rule of Portirio Díaz from 1876 to 1911 and the adoption of Mexico’s current constitution on February 5, 1917, marking the beginning of modern Mexico and leading to the formation of PRI party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional in English the Institutional Revolutionary Party) which was formed at the end of over a decade of sporadic outbreaks of civil unrest that followed the adoption of the 1917 Mexican constitution.  Starting in 2006 the Día de la Revolucíon holiday has been celebrated on the third Monday in November instead of on November 20th.