Día de los Muertos Calaveras

I know it's a little late... but I just have to share 1st Grade's inspiring Día de los Muertos Calaveras!

The kids were fascinated with the celebration of Día de los Muertos. We looked at videos, listened to music and looked at lots of artwork of calaveras, costumes, and sugar skulls. We discussed how the Day of the Dead is not scary, but joyful and that it's different that Halloween.

 

We first drew the skulls onto a black sheet of paper. I demonstrated how to start with a circle and then add a half circle(or a smile shape) to the bottom of the circle. Then draw two circles for the eyes and an upside down triangle for the nose. We then drew flat circles(pancake shapes) for the neck bones and a rounded line for the shoulders. It always amazes the kids how something that looks hard to draw is easy if you break it down. I had one student who shrieked, "OH, I finally get it, everything is made out of little shapes!", and the others seemed to chime in with excitement about this new discovery! I absolutely love those a-ha moments! 


We then painted in our drawings, leaving the eyes and noses black.  I then demonstrated how to paint over the half circle(jaw) and how to add teeth. 

The next week, we used oil pastels to adorn our calaveras. I demonstrated how to draw marigolds, a significant symbol used in the Day of the Dead, often called 'the flower of the dead". I showed the kids a variety of ways to adorn their skulls and printed out many examples for them to use as inspiration.

True to Día de los Muertos, these artworks are so joyful and full of life!