Pretty much everyone in North America is familiar with Halloween, but up until recently not too many folks had heard of Dia De Los Muertos. I almost prefer the latter because contrary to its close proximity to Halloween, Dia De Los Muertos has nothing to do with scary spirits haunting you from the grave. It’s actually a very family friendly celebration to honor and remember loved ones that have passed away. Check out some of the cost-effective ways I have found to celebrate the holiday.
Learn What Dia De Los Muertos Is: It literally translates into the day of the dead. Learn more about the celebration with National Geographic or join early childhood entertainer Blippi as he takes part in the traditional celebration.
https://youtu.be/_sSawpU81cI (National Geographic what is Dia De Los Muertos)
https://youtu.be/jwP4toZ5RUs (Blippi learns about Dia De Los Muertos)
Free Kids Workouts: Now that you have exercised your brains its time to exercise your bodies with this fun sugar skull kids workout:
https://youtu.be/ZgnQjnBQoFQ (Sugar Skull Disney work out)
Dia De Los Muertos at the Zoo? This year Brookfield Zoo is offering a Dia De Los Muertos celebration on October 29-30th. The advertisement promises music, face painting, and sugar skull painting. For more information check out the link below. (This is a great option for family fun if you are already a zoo member as admission and parking are free)
https://www.czs.org/diadelosmuertos (Dia De Los Muertos celebration at Brookfield Zoo)
Get Crafty:
Crayola is offering free printable skull coloring pages. Use the link below, click, and print for Dia De Los Muertos decorations that you and your kids can create.
Skull Treat Containers \Skull Painted Rocks: To make the skull treat containers pictured above simply take an old plastic easter egg and paint it white. Once it dries use a black sharpie to draw on a skull face. Fill with treats and enjoy! Making the skull rocks pictured below is a snap. Collect some rocks from your yard and wash and dry them thoroughly. Paint them white and let them dry. Use either black paint or black sharpie to draw on your skull faces.
Felt Skull Masks: These felt mask kits were available at Dollar Tree. You can certainly make your own with felt from the craft store as well. Pro tip: use hot glue as regular school glue didn’t quite cut it.
Let’s Get Baking:
These fabulous skull shaped Peeps Marshmallows are available at Blains Farm and Fleet, Five Below, and JoAnn Fabrics. You can eat them straight up or make s’mores out of them like we did.
Sugar skull sugar cookies are easy to make. Whip up your favorite sugar cookie recipe and recycle the Halloween skull cookie cutter. Bake and then decorate.
Make Your Own Ofrenda: You can do something as simple as looking at old photos and sharing your memories or even put out some of each person’s favorite food or candy. If you do want to get a little more elaborate, then check out the link below for instructions on building you very own ofrenda.
https://remezcla.com/features/culture/how-to-build-your-own-altar-ofrenda/
Visit a Graveyard: If you know where your relatives are buried, why not celebrate by visiting their grave site? You could leave some Cempazuchitl or Marigolds (the traditional flower of Dia De Los Muertos) as decorations. If you don’t know where your relatives are buried, check out this link for a grave finder.
Interested in some of the symbolism you can find on graves? Check out these blog posts:
http://mindofmarie.home.blog/2022/09/30/tales-from-the-crypt-2/
http://the-thrifty-mom.com/2022/10/06/embark-on-some-bargain-boos-2/
Disney’s Coco read aloud: Join Miguel as he pursues his dream to become a famous musician in this fun literary adaptation of Disney’s movie Coco which takes place during Dia De Los Muertos. This is a great way to wind down the kiddos after an action-packed day of celebration!
https://youtu.be/t3rsjBDwROE (Coco read aloud)
Feliz Dia De Los Muertos!
Adios!
Love,
Marie
The thrifty-momcom 