Day of the Dead Crafts/ Dia De Los Muertos
My kids have recently been quite fascinated by “death” (sorry, I think it is their age) and try and be as honest as possible with them. We thought that looking at Day of the Dead/ Dia de Los Muertos crafts could help them talk some more about it. So we created some lovely Sugar Skull Crafts for them to get involved in! And also discussed the meaning behind Dia de Los Muertos and how to celebrate it!
I personally always been interested in the Day of the Dead myself – I like the idea of celebrating the dead and making the “morbid, less morbid”. So once again, we thought we would come together and share our Day of Dead Craft ideas in a video for you. I have then added some additional links for you peruse!
Día de los Muertos Overview
A quick overview of this Mexican Holiday:
The Day Of the Dead or Dia de Los Muertos is a Mexican celebrations of the loved ones that have deceased. It falls around on the 1st Novemeber and 2nd November – in other words close to All Saints Day, which is often celebrated as All Hallows Eve or Halloween. It is however a different celebration all together.
Key themes of Dia de Los muertos are altars (known as an ofrenda) to honor the dead, decorative Calaveras (also known as Sugar Skulls or Day of the Dead Skulls) and colourful marigolds and other orange and yellow flowers.
On the día de los muertos families, will visit relatives at the graveyard with candies, treats, drinks and gifts by their graveside or ofrenda.
You can learn more about the Day of the Dead Celebration here. A lovely movie for kids about these festivities is Coco! A definite must watch for anyone expoloring this celebration.
Day of the Dead Crafts
Let’s get crafty.
Paper Sugar Skull Crafts
Let’s begin with one of favourite craft mediums – PAPER! Paper crafts are so fun and so very versatile!
As you know, we are great fan of corner bookmarks and loved making these Day of the Dead Bookmarks DIY! They are great opportunity to get doodling and exploring different features and symbolisms used for the Day of the dead!
Super simple but effective Day of the Dead Luminaries to print out and colour (if you wish).. makes a great 5 minute craft and very last minute Day of the Dead Decoration
And we had SO MUCH fun with these fabulous Day of the Dead Paper Puppets – articulate paper dolls to decorate and customise.. see over 45 variations on one Skeleton Template!
Spend time thinking of your loved ones whilst coloring this wonderful Day of the Dead Sugar Skull Card. It pop ups and makes a great additiona to any Dia de Los Muertos altars.
Day of the Dead Colouring Pages! More beautiful Day of the Dead Coloring pages by Hattifant
Throw a Day of The Dead Party and make a Skull Pinata! (Made using our easy peasy guide to how to make paper mache from flour – inexpensive, environmentally friendly and quick!).
Love these Sugar Skull pinatas – apparently NO BALLOON required to make them! Yay.
10. We always love a paper plate craft, such as these fab Paper Plate Sugar Skulls (with handy printable!). This is a super lovely Day of the Dead Craft for Preschoolers and toddlers!
If you are in Mexico for Day of the Dead, you will no doubt go to a Day of the Dead parade. Be sure to be ready and have your very own paper plate skull masks by Scrum Dilly Do with you! Aren’t these fabulous. (I also featured these on our Halloween round up before, love them!)
Or grav these Happy Thought 3D Day of the Dead Masks are adorable and would be quick and easy to make. They are sadly no longer free though!
Fabulously fun Tic Tac Toe Day of the Dead printable.
More wonderful Day of the Dead Crafts
Day of the Dead Balloons – a super simple activity that you can do with the kids. Shown right at the beginning of the video.
Day of the Dead Rock Painting – another opportunity to have a go at some Sugar Skull patterns and designs. The great thing about this activity, is that you can start off by painting the rocks white for the children and providing them with a “blank canvas” to work with!
Similarly, we had fun decorating these cute Day of the Dead Corks! A great way to add to your mexican decor and celebrations. Discuss loved ones as you decorate your cork and then add it to your Day of the Dead Alter!
Skeleton Lady from Blue Bear Wood. Aren’t these wonderful? Inspired by La Calvera Catrina – read more about this elegant lady of the dead here.
Love these Day of the Dead planters – love the idea of death and regrowth
Day of the Dead Gingerbread man – pretty amazing, not sure I could replicate this… but a simpler version would be fun! Here are some easier ones maybe? Gingerbread men.
Love the combination of Marigold and Skull Cookies – these are definitely on our to do list!
Similary – Love this Salt Dough Sugar Skull Ornament (Flickr) (click here for a Salt Dough recipe)
Love these “jolly” and kid friendly Day of the Dead votives [UPDATE: the elisapolo website is no longer active]. Sweet. And if you like those, you may like the “Neon Day of Dead Votives” on Instructables. Fab.
Another love (hahaha how OFTEN have I used that word..?) are these Day of the Dead Matchboxes – like a portable shrine your loved ones.
Or try your hand at this felt hair piece!
Check out this video to create your own Sugar Skull MakeUp for kids on Youtube! This is a must as part of any Day of the Dead costumes and dress up. Amazing!
Day of the Dead Bunting (incl. free printable and with a bit of Star Wars thrown in) from the lovely Kids Chaos.
Who knew that potatos had the perfect skull print for some Skull Potato printing?! Again a Kids Chaos activity. But why not print these in white, and add some marigolds, flourishes and more Sugar Skull decor, rather than make “halloween skulls”?
Looking for more great ideas ? We have some WONDERFUL Halloween Preschooler Crafts here:
Day of the Dead Crafts Video
A little while back, we did a fun little video on YouTube, where we got together and discussed our Dia de Los Muertos crafts – you may enjoy a little peak at it here: