Dia De Los Muertos

6th grade students began a project on the Day of the Dead - Dia de Los Muertos.  We discussed how Mexico and many other latin cultures celebrate this day to pay respect and honor to those that have died. The two day celebration happens on the first two days of November.  The class watched this video to help build background knowledge about the celebration in Oxacana, Mexico.

Dia de los Muertos

From there, we then observed some traditional skull masks and drawings and talked about symmetry, pattern and color.  

Students were than given paper, pencil to draw their skulls and designs.  once their designs were complete, the students then took Sharpies and markers to add color.

On day two, we painted flower bursts to cover the entire background.  We started with 4-5 yellow circles and then added petals by placing the paint brush to the edge of the circle and pulling away.  This makes an easy, painterly petal for kids to make.  The flowers grew in a circular pattern and we kept adding fmore warm colors to each layer of the flower until the whole paper was painted in,

On day three, we added the skull and adorned the picture with tissue paper flowers around the edges.