Do You Celebrate Dia de Muertos at School?

Are you looking for resources to help you bring Dia de Los Muertos or Day of the Dead into the classroom? We’re here to help you celebrate with brand new Day of the Dead resources that are perfect for helping your students learn about other cultures. Here are a few facts we’ve discovered about the holiday.

• It is a Mexican holiday celebrating the lives and memories of those who have passed away.
• The Day of the Dead is celebrated on November 1st —the day that the dead would rise from their graves—and lasts for two days. 
• People clean and decorate graves with marigolds and other flowers and leave colorful offerings like sugar skulls, candles and toys.

DIY Calaveras – Dia de Los Muertos Crafts

It’s easy to promote cultural awareness and celebrate Mexican culture with Day of the Dead or Dia De Los Muertos activities at school. This printable craft is a no-prep activity that’s perfect for elementary students.

The resource includes:

• A black and white printable calavera skeleton, just waiting to be brightly colored and decorated.
• A set of calavera accessories to compliment their festive appearance

To make a calavera, students will color and cut out the skeleton pieces. Using a paper fastener, attach the skeleton’s pieces together at the dotted joints. Using brads will allow your plain old calavera to become a dancing calavera! Then students will color, cut out, and attach hats, flowers, and musical instruments to finish off their art. These would make an amazing fall bulletin board, and it would definitely be unique!

 Be sure to check out additional cultural inclusion activities for elementary students here!

Easily Download & Print

Use the dropdown icon on the Download button to download the PDF or Google Slides version of this resource. 

Find more activities to teach diversity in the classroom on our blog!

This resource was created by Lindsey Phillips, a teacher in Michigan and a Teach Starter collaborator.

Don’t stop there! We’ve got more activities to shorten your lesson planning time:  

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Halloween vs. Dia de Los Muertos - Differentiated Paired Passages

Integrate reading, writing, and celebration of world cultures with differentiated paired passages comparing Halloween and Dia de los Muertos.

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Combine reading and history content with differentiated reading comprehension worksheets.