Feliz Dia de los Muertos!

I've never celebrated Dia de los Muertos before.  But then again, I've never been in a Spanish class and I've never taught a Spanish class and I've never been in mourning.  This year it all changed.

 David's Skull

This year, even though I have never taken a Spanish class before, I have started teaching it to the kids.  This consists mostly of David asking me how to say something in Spanish, I say I don't know, and he says, "Why don't we call Kalaya?"  (that happens to be my BFF and she happens to be a Spanish teacher!)  We're making a folder of the words he learns from her.  He wants to know how to say things like SCUBA diver and manta ray and Battle Droid.

Oh, we also have a set of beginning lesson plans we're working through - so far we've done the Spanish alphabet and animal names.

So I figured, this year, I'd introduce them to a little international culture.  We already tried to make a pinata and discovered that I need better instructions.  We planned on making maracas from our gourds, but the things are still green!  Then today, David just happened to be playing with a Lego Skeleton and our intro to Dia de los Muertos began.

Elizabeth's Skull

I explained how, in Mexico, they celebrate today as a day to remember the dead and that they decorate with skeletons and skulls... but not in a scary way, it's a celebration of the people they love.  I asked David who he loved that had died.  He replied, "My Great, who made my Great Blanket.  And my Grandma.  And my Papa."  So we thanked God that we had those people in our lives and decorated some skulls.

Mom's Skull

Maybe next year, I'll think about it enough in advance to get a library book or do something a little more elaborate as the artistic skill of the kids increases.  I did find the following links that looked like they'd be pretty helpful for future reference:


Day of the Dead Mini Unit - includes good background info
How to Make Sugar Skulls - step-by-step with photos

Did anyone else do any celebrating today?