As the quarantine approaches its third month, people the world over are under a lot of pressure. What’s more, constant news updates on the crisis are making sure everyone knows exactly what to blame for their troubles: a little grey-green ball with suckers all over it called COVID-19. While many of us would be happy to take a blunt object to the little glob of goo, some people are using coronavirus piñatas to do just that.
Beat the Coronavirus — Literally
The coronavirus piñata — or the “coroñata,” as some are starting to call it — has become something of a staple at small family parties in lockdown. Examples can be found as far back as April, when family friends left a gift at the Texas home of Jennifer Wersal. Hanging from a tree was a multicolored sphere with green fuzzies sticking out all over — a representation of the coronavirus. The coroñata was then happily bludgeoned from the tree during Jennifer’s son Carson’s 18th birthday.
“After it fell off of the tree line, the boys figured out exactly what to do with it,” Jennifer said. Carson and his brother Joe proceeded to use the viral piñata in a game of softball.
The Coroñata Trend Spreads
The Wersals aren’t the only ones to take out their frustration on piñata recreations of COVID-19. “I think its very healthy,” Matthew Field, the British ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, told the New York Times. When Field’s son turned 10 recently, lockdown restrictions made a party impossible. “When I asked what he wanted he said: ‘A coronavirus piñata to smash to bits.'”
Commercial piñata makers are also getting in on the action. Carlos de La Fuente, owner of ABC Party in Oak Cliff, Texas, said that the favors will be ready in his store for a variety of occasions.
“We can dress it up for different occasions, like our kids that didn’t get to have a graduation,” de La Fuente told NBC 5 news. “We’re gonna put a cap and maybe a gown on it, so they can hit it and get their frustration out for messing up their school year.”
Peace of Mind with a Coronavirus Pinata
With the coroñata rising in popularity, experts are pointing out that there’s a reason it feels so good to whale on a papier-mâché version of the virus.
“Hitting something (that should be hit, like a punching bag or a piñata) produces a physiological response that helps relieve tension and work through negative feelings (and, possibly, overcome them),” psychologist Peggy Drexler told the New York Times.
Those who have joined the coroñata party so far seem to agree that it really takes the edge off this quarantine. Journalist Jen Percy tells the New York Times when she brought one to a recent birthday party, the effect was cathartic.
“It functioned like one of those anger rooms where you go to bash things,” she said.
Want to learn how to make your own coroñata? Here’s a tutorial we found on YouTube: