Día de los Muertos- Activites

****Click here to see all of our Day of the Dead activities.

One of the most traditional icons associated with Day of the Dead is the skeleton. Here are a few of the Day of the Dead activities that we did this week. They would also work for Halloween.

Bone letters. I made a few bone-shaped pieces of various lengths and we combined them to make letters. I would call out a letter and D had to make the letter as fast as he could. When he got tired of this, he would call out the letter and I would form it.

Skulls. I drew several skulls and we painted some with water colors and use markers and crayons on others.
Noodle Skeletons. I have seen this idea on several websites. One of my favorites is on Encanted Learning. Our Noodle Skeleton did not turn out quite the same because we did not have all of the shapes of noodles and, as usual, D had his own plan. We did, however, have a box of Scooby Doo macaroni with bone-shaped noodles. I think D's favorite part was sorting out the different shapes from the macaroni box.

Día de los Muertos- Food

Today and tomorrow are known in Mexico and some other parts of Latin America as Día de los Muertos or Day of the Dead. All week, in an attempt to raise our boys with knowledge of both of their parents' cutures, we have read books, made crafts, decorated, and prepared food typical of both Halloween and Dead of the Dead. This post will show a few of the food that we have prepared this week in preparation for Day of the Dead.

Tamales. Every year we make an ENORMOUS batch of tamales for Christmas. This year we also made a small batch for Day of the Dead. I am not going to go into too much detail about how to make tamales in this post because I plan to when we make them for Christmas. I will tell you, however, that these tamales were made with chicken in mole sauce and they were DELICIOUS!

Chocolate Skelelton. This was my idea and it was a complete failure. We have these skeleton moldes that came with a science kit that my husband bought ages ago. Like everything in my craft closet, I just knew that I would reuse it some day so I held on to it. First, I attempted four times (yes, I said four) to make skeleton Jello jigglers. Everytime they just stuck to the mold and fell apart. Then I got the great idea to use melted white chocolate. Same outcome. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know or the mold goes in the trash.
Pan de los Muertos/Dead Bread. This is a very traditional pan served during Day of the Dead and also placed on the alters or "ofrendas" for the spirits of the departed to consume when they return to the visit the living. I had planned to make our own Dead Bread this year but I found this one already made and so pretty at the store so I took the easy way out. Maybe next year.

If you are interested in making your own or are just interested what is in Dead Bread, click here.
Calaveras de Azúcar/ Sugar Skulls. Sugar skulls are another very traditional "food" of Day of the Dead. You do not actually eat the skulls because they are made of pure sugar and decorated with sequins, ribbon, etc. This is on our list for next year because I did not have the molds to make the skulls and could not find a store selling them. If you would like to see what they look like (and you should because they are beautiful), click here.

Día de los Muertos- Decorations

When the boys get older and can better understand the significance of Day of the Dead, we plan to make an actual "ofrenda" in our house to honor the memory of our loved ones that have passed away. This year we will simply take out old photographs and talk to the boys about our grandmothers and light a candle in rememberance. We have also put up decorations around the house that are Day of the Dead related along side our Halloween decorations. We are truly a bicultural family. :)

Skulls and skeletons are a very important symbol of Day of the Dead. Beside the fact that they obviously represent death, they are also shown smiling or doing day to day activities (like riding bicycles or playing a guitar. In this way, they are showing that death is not something to be feared but it is simply part of life. I drew some skulls from looking at different pictures of the internet and D and I painted them with water colors.

Cempasuchil or marigolds are an important symbol of Day of the Dead. The bright colors of these flowers and the powerful scent are supposed to help lead the spirits of your deceased loved ones to your home. As luck would have it, I have an entire garden full of marigolds this year so D and I glued them to a piece of paper that I cut out in the shape of a cross. Many of the people who celebrate Day of the Dead are Catholic. Most "ofrendas" include religious symbols such as crosses.

Finally we made and decorated with "papel picado" or cut paper. You have probably seen these at a Cinco de Mayo or Christmas celebration or even at a Mexican restaurant. They are a very common way to decorate in Mexico. For Day of the Dead, the images cut of the paper are in the shape of skulls or skeletons.

We also made our own simple form of "papel picado" made of a tissue paper. You can find the instructions to make them here. I forgot to take a picture of D making them. :( Basically you fold a piece of tissue paper like you are going to make a snowflake. Cut out little triangles and other shapes in the folded paper. When you unfold it, you have a design. String them together and hang them on the wall.

Here is a wall in our kitchen decorated for Day of the Dead.

I hoping that you are enjoying learning about Day of the Dead. If you make any of these projects or have any ideas of other projects that we can do, please let me know.

Día de los Muertos- What my child is reading.

This week's addition of What my child is reading will focus on Day of the Dead related books. If you would like to learn more about Day of the Dead click here.

Pablo Remembers

This was the favorite book of the week. Pablo Remembers is about a little boy and his family in Mexico getting prepared for a Day of the Dead celebration. The year before Pablo's grandmother passed away and they are going to build an altar to honor her. The family first goes to the market place to buy the items that they will cook and put on the family's altar. I used this book to show D what a typical Day of the Dead celebration consist of. The family cooks tamales, buys Dead bread (I will talk about this later in the week) and calaveras de dulce or sugar skulls, and builds a beautiful altar with photos of the deceased, candles, flowers, and all of the items that his grandmother loved while on Earth. Finally, the family gathers at the cemetery to decorate the tombstone with flowers and pay their respects. This book is entirely in English and a bit advanced for a pre-schooler. However, I would recommend it to a parent who wants to learn more about Day of the Dead and then use the pictures to explain the celebration to the child.

Day of the Dead

The illustrations alone in this book are worth checking it out. This is another book that takes you through the preparations for Day of the Dead. It is mostly in English with a few words in Spanish that are easy to figure out the meaning.

Calavera Abecedario

This book takes you through the letters of the alphabet in Spanish using beautiful artwork and skeletal characters. There is a glossary to help you understand the words but I do not think that you will need to use it much if you look at the illustrations.

If you want to find out what others are reading this week head over to Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns.

Día de los Muertos-Day of the Dead

It is important to my husband and I that our sons grow up not only bilingually, but also biculturally. That is why we have decided to celebrate Halloween and Día de los Muertos or Day of the Dead. What is Day of the Dead? It is nothing like Dawn of the Dead as my high school students guess every year. (no zombies!) In fact, Day of the Dead celebrations more closely resemble Memorial Day in the United States than Halloween. To understand this holiday you must first understand how the people of Mexico's view of death differs from the view of death in the United States. In the United States we generally fear and do not want to talk about death. In Mexico, death is not the scary part, but being forgotten after we pass away IS scary. Therefore, every year our friends and family who have died are remember and honored for two days during the celebration of Day of the Dead.

Click here for a simple list of facts about Day of the Dead provided courtesy of the Smithsonian.

If you would like more detailed information about the history and customs of Day of the Dead, click here.

If you are interested in learning more about Day of the Dead to teach your child (or just for yourself) check back each day this week. This is the planned schedule of post for the week:

Monday- General facts about Day of the Dead

Tuesday- Books that we are reading about Dead of the Dead.

Wednesday- Crafts/Decorations

Thursday- Toy post with MckLinky(not Day of the Dead related.) Click here to find out more.

Friday- Day of the Dead activities to do with your child.

Saturday- Food of Day of the Dead