Dia de los Muertos Crafts and Activities

a deLast month I shared a review of The Dia de los Muertos Story and I wanted to share some more activities you can do at home or in classroom around the holiday.

First off, if you want to learn more about the traditions and symbols surrounding dia de los muertos, there’s a good post at Llamitas Spanish (the post is in English) that includes activity ideas, authentic videos to help kids learn and more.

Teachers Pay Teachers has lots of great content for the day. A couple I ran into include this skull writing template in both English and Spanish that also includes blank prompts so you can write your own questions (this one is from Sra Cruz) and these activities for middle school including close reading, comprehension activities and more, which you can read about at Creative Classroom Core or buy direct from TpT.

Skeletons are a popular symbol of the day since it’s all about remembering and honoring people who have died, but they’re generally cute because it’s not meant to be scary. Red Ted Art has a set of printable skeleton puppets with joints so you can pose the arms and legs in different ways. They also have accessories you can mix and match so each person can make their own design.

This little nicho box from Happy Thought is another easy craft you can make and use to talk about loved ones who have died. There is one printable version that is free to download and others you can purchase (along with other activities) if you want more variety.

Hola Jalapeno has a recipe for making your own sugar skulls (which are not for eating because they’re decorated with non-food things). You’ll need a skull mold for these, but if you want to do this activity year after year it’s worth it to have one or several.

If you want a dia de los muertos treat you can eat, try pan de muerto, a sweet and savory bread that’s a classic this time of year. Latino Foodie has a good recipe. Be aware that because this is a yeast bread it’s not a quick project, but it’s a great one to make at home.

Check out more dia de los muertos activities here.

My brother went through a phase where he was obsessed with maps. He loved to look at maps and he would draw maps of places real and imagined. He even drew maps that followed our route when we’d go to visit our grandparents in another state!

I assume there are still kids who go through map phases, and kids with an interest in history and how things got to be the way they are. Both kinds of kids will enjoy the book Borders: Understanding the Lines that Unite and Separate Us by Karim Ressouni-Demigneux, with illustrations by Karine Maincent.

The book describes how the original borders were natural, such as oceans, rivers, mountains and deserts, and while some of those borders are still in use today, many borders are human made, decided by treaties or carved out by colonizers. It covers the history of people congregating in one place and how city-states evolved into empires, how maps are drawn and how human conflicts can reshape borders.

There are stories about walls that reinforce borders, how borders work in the air and at sea, how people cross borders with passports or as refugees and how climate change is altering the borders of some countries.

You’ll also learn some fun border facts like the fact that if you stand in the middle of the bridge over the Zambezi River you can be in four countries at once because that’s where the borders of Botswana, Zambia, Namibia and Zimbabwe meet. Or how there is only one border crossing between India and Pakistan that’s closed each night in an elaborate ceremony.

The book talks about time zones, border towns and places where countries and parts of countries are inside other countries and places where borders are less important such as the European Union.

While there are serious subjects in the book, it’s still a fun read that’s sure to interest those kids around ages 8-12 who like travel, maps and weird but true facts.

About the book: 72 pages, hardcover, published 2026 by Blue Dot Kids Press. Suggested retail price $21.95.

Have you read?

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