*Scrappitydoodah*

Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, has replaced Halloween as my favorite holiday.

Day of the Dead.  It sounds like a scary holiday, but that is a misconception of those who aren’t familiar with its history.  In Mexico, it’s a celebration of the lives of ancestors, and my family has embraced and adopted this custom as our own.

This year, we invited several other homeschooling families to celebrate with us, and I think I can safely say it was a successful event.  I had set up various stations with different activities, with a mom at each one to guide and supervise, and by the end of the afternoon, we had ten kids with four completed crafts, a sugar skull, and a bag of Mexican candies to take home.

We started with the kids gathered near the altar my children and I had set up in honor of deceased loved ones.

I read the story Clatter Bash! which elicited many giggles, then started the story Pablo Remembers.  Thankfully,  Koren took over the reading of this story when The Comet’s disruptive behavior became too much for me, and I had to remove him from the room.

Then the kids all sampled some pan de muerto.  This bread is delicious, and both loaves were quickly devoured.

Then it was time to begin the crafts.  The atmosphere was a happy one of controlled chaos, with four stations to visit.

Susan led the children in making papel cortado, which is a paper cutting craft similar to making paper snowflakes.

Koren supervised the making of the marigolds.

Kathleen presented a brief lesson on the significance of monarch butterflies in relation to Dia de los Muertos, then led the children in an adorable painting craft.

My station had spangles and markers to decorate cavaleras (skulls).

After a bit of playtime, the kids each selected a bag of Mexican candies and a sugar skull.

I absolutely loved the cavaleras this little girl decorated.  I got a kick out of watching her intently glue the spangles in place.  She put a lot of effort into this, and got a great result.

Say Fiesta!

I really enjoyed this day, and I believe our guests did, as well.