Dia de los Muertos for Kids

Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead is a holiday that honors people who have died and is mostly celebrated in Mexico. It can be fun to add a little bit of learning about Dia de los Muertos to your classroom or home routine, especially if you teach Spanish or live somewhere with a large Hispanic population. Here are some Dia de los Muertos crafts and other activities to do with kids.

There are a few classic symbols of the day, one of which is decorating with or wearing masks or face paint that looks like skulls. One Little Project has a Day of the Dead mask made with a paper plate. I did something similar as a craft for my daughter’s class Halloween party several years ago, cutting skull shapes out of posterboard and giving them circles, flower petals, hearts and other shapes to use to decorate their skulls. (You can also just draw on them as she shows.)

Tissue paper flowers are a common decoration throughout the year, and you can learn to make them from Little Cooks Reading Books. Theses are so fun to make in a bunch of different colors to decorate the classroom (and a great use for all that slightly used tissue paper you’ve been keeping for reasons).

Speaking of tissue paper, papel picado is another classic Mexican craft you may see around this time of year. I found basic instructions on Pinterest, but you can also find some templates in the Fun for Spanish Teachers store at Teachers Pay Teachers.

Nicho boxes (little niches or shadowboxes) are another easy craft to make with kids for Dia de los Muertos. These boxes are sometimes seen on the altars families make to honor their deceased loved ones at this time of year. You can make your own and draw a skull inside or a picture of someone who has died. Kitchen Table Classroom has the instructions and a sugar skull printable sized to fit in the niche.

Happy Toddler Playtime has some cute Dia de los Muertos coloring pages, and you can find great fact sheets about Day of the Dead in both English and Spanish at Multicultural Kid Blogs.

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The celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is important throughout Mexico and other parts of the world. Her feast day is Dec. 12, and the celebrations honoring her appearance to Juan Diego in 1531 begin a few days before that.

Whether you celebrate yourself or just want to share about the celebration at home or in your classroom, Las Mañanitas: The Beautiful Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a good place to start. The book, by Ernesto Joel Vega Rosales and Jeanette Gonzalez Seneviratne, with illustrations by Dana Sanmar, tells the story of a family’s celebration of the feast day in both English and Spanish.

They prepare with a novena, which is nine days of prayers and preparations. The children, Lucia and Pablo, are given special outfits made by their grandmother that look like what Juan Diego might have worn when he saw Our Lady. The book describes the prayers that are made each day, such as a prayer for respect for life, for families and for the indigenous people of the Americas, to name a few.

As told in the book, Juan Diego was a native Mexican born near modern day Mexico City. His given name was Cuaauhtlatoatzin, which means “He who speaks like an eagle.” When he converted to Christianity his name was changed to Juan Diego, and as he walked to church he passed a hill called Tepeyac. One day he heard the birds singing especially beautifully and a voice called him to go to the top of the hill.

There he saw Our Lady of Guadalupe, who asked him to tell the bishop she wanted a chapel built in her name at the foot of the hill. The bishop asked for a sign that Juan Diego really saw her, and later she had him collect flowers that she blessed and take them to the bishop. When Juan Diego dropped the flowers, an image of Our Lady could be seen on his cloak, which is still on display in her basilica to this day.

The feast day is celebrated as mañanitas, which includes singing, indigenous music and dancing, and children presenting flowers to Our Lady. Juan Diego is remembered today as being humble, brave and faithful, and was the first indigenous American made a saint.

The book is colorful and tells the story in a clear way, and it’s fun to have it both in English and Spanish if you teach Spanish or speak Spanish at home or in the classroom. It’s a great way to learn the basics of the celebration and the story of Juan Diego and why he is still remembered today.

About the book: 40 pages, paperback, published 2024 by Loyola Press. Suggested retail price $14.99.

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