Inside: Ideas for arts and craft projects and classroom decorations that preschool children can make to celebrate Mexican Day of the Dead / Día de Muertos.

As a Mexican preschool teacher working in the UK, I find it very important to share my culture with our children because they are developing in a global society and we can all benefit from more exposure to different cultures and traditions than the ones we experience at home.

This will not only bring creativity to their ideas as they grow up but also can help to develop a sense of diverse community and tolerance that is much needed in our modern world.

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10 Easy Day of The Dead Crafts for Kids

I’ve put together this list of simple craft projects that young children can make to celebrate Mexican Día de Muertos this November (or end of October, if you want to pair it up with Halloween celebrations).

I hope you and your kids enjoy them!

1. Paper Plate Day of The Dead Sugar Skulls

These adorable Día de Muertos Skulls come with a free printable template of the eyes for the sugar skull that you can easily cut and paste into a paper plate to then decorate with your favourite craft materials.

Group of children wearing sugar skull masks for day of the dead — Get the printable from my TpT shop to get extra designs and a skull’s template

Find the sugar skull template here with several designs to start your craft.

Do you like Frida Kahlo?

Check out the Frida Kahlo Sugar Skull version of our Day of The Dead kids craft.

2. Sugar Skull Black Glue Art Project

If you haven’t used black glue with your children, what better time to do it than around Halloween or Day of the Dead celebrations? You can either buy it on Amazon or make your own following the tutorial over I Heart Crafty Things.

3. Neon Day of the Dead Mask

These skulls use neon pens to get that “glowy” effect that I bet your craftiest kids will go nuts for. If you run out of ideas for a halloween costume you can always let the kids do your make-up with these pens. Cyber-Punk Preschool Teacher Costume? Anybody? …ok.

Check out the tutorial for this mask over Arty Crafty Kids.

4. Sugar Skulls Rocks Using Puffy Paint

These calorie-free sugar skulls look great indoors and outdoors. The fact that you decorate them using puffy paint makes them a complete sensory experience that continues after the paint is dry. Don’t you also get tiny bits of joy when you feel dry puffy paint with your fingers? Ooooh yeah.

See the tutorial over Color Made Happy.

You might also like this activity:

Stamped Ladybirds for Bugs and Nature Simple Stamping Art activity for Preschool Kids using Apples. #preschool #crafts #apples #stamped — Bugs and Nature Stamp Art

5. Paper Day of the Dead Luminaires

Make these luminaires to light up your ofrendas of Día de Muertos. They are so simple to make that you can quickly make enough luminaires for every ancester your children have had all the way back to the Flinstones Age.

Get the template over Red Ted Art.

6. Day of the Dead Paper Puppet

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?? Frida opened her eyes. The face she saw was not that of the woman she had seen every morning since she placed that mirror above her bed so many years ago. Instead she saw a pale skeleton staring back at her. -“Wait a second…” She thought -“AM I…PLAIN?”. She wasn’t having it. She jumped out of the mattres and felt a bunch of cempasuchil flower’s petals under her foot. It was probably Diego who scattered them there. Frida hopped with her only leg along the petals path and she arrived to her beloved art studio. The artist fiercely grabbed a paintbrush and started to work her magic on her new skeletal body. A moon later, Kahlo hopped back to her bed, looked at her reflection and said: -“Much better”. . ?? Paper Frida Kahlo made by teacher @rodrigomacias using the printable puppet template by @RedTedArt

Una publicación compartida por Early Childhood ? Box of Ideas (@box.of.ideas) el 29 de Sep de 2018 a las 8:06 PDT

The best thing about this paper puppet is that each child can put it together as crazy as they want. The template includes print-ready accesories such as hair flowers and a sombrero to make unique calaveras.

In the picture above you can see the skull puppet I made which is supposed to look like one of my favourite Mexican artists who happens to be dead. Can you guess who it is?

Grab the printable over Red Ted Art.