Dia de Los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead is a Mexican celebration remembering and honoring friends and family who have died. It begins on November 1st and ends on November 2nd. Although this holiday originated in Mexico, it is now celebrated in parts of Latin America and in the United States. It has been celebrated for over 2500 years and has roots connected to the Aztecs.
As part of the Day of the Dead celebration, families build alters in their homes honoring the deceased or they set up alters at their graves. Families will sometimes stay up all night celebrating and telling stories from when the departed were alive.
These alters have many traditional elements, such as candles, marigolds, photos, calaveras, food, water, and cut paper decorations called papel picados. Calaveras are brightly decorated skulls made of sugar or clay.
Every year, Mexico City has a Day of the Dead parade. It is important to keep in mind the significance of the holiday and to be respectful of remembering and honoring loved ones that are no longer living.
How to Make a Foil Calaveras (Sugar Skull)
Two of my favorite materials to use with my high school students are sharpie markers and aluminum foil. Last year, my class made beautiful sugar skulls with these two items along with either hot glue or white glue and yarn. To keep the skulls a consistent size, I printed a basic template onto cardstock, then had them add their own designs.
Supplies
You will need a skull design printed on card stock, a hot glue gun or white glue and yarn, pencils for drawing the designs onto the skull, aluminum foil, black and colored sharpies, and examples of calaveras. Pinterest is a great place to find these- just search for “sugar skulls”!
Instructions
1. Give everyone a piece of cardstock with a skull design and a pencil. Show some examples of sugar skulls or examples of different designs they might like to use. Encourage them to not make any designs that are too intricate as they will need to have room to color inside the lines.
2. When they have finished their designs, have them write their names on the back in the middle of the card stock.
3. If you have enough hot glue guns and are comfortable with your students using them, they can go over the lines on their paper with hot glue. If you do not want them using hot glue, you can do it for them (that’s what I did, but I had very small classes!) or you can have them cover the lines with white glue, then cover the glue with yarn. It’s tedious and a little messy, but it creates a nice, raised edge and no one will burn their fingers.
4. When the glue is completely dry, give them a piece of aluminum foil slightly larger than the card stock. Have them place the shiny side down on the table, put the card stock with the calaveras facing down onto the foil, then fold the edges of the foil over the back of the card stock. Their names should still be visible in the middle of the paper.
5. Fold the card stock over and have them press gently on the foil so the glued lines leave a raised impression. If they do this too fast, the foil may tear.
6. Using bright colors of sharpies and a black sharpie, have them color their foil. I prefer them to color everything, including the background, but it’s okay to make exceptions.
Your calaveras for Dia de Los Muertos is done!
For more student examples, visit our inspiration page.
