Light-up Flowers for Día de Muertos

Students start by learning about how Día de los Muertos is celebrated in Mexico and the surrounding region of Central America. They look at photo and video examples of the ofrenda and the cemeteries which are decorated to celebrate the lives of deceased family members. 

Students are introduced to the important symbols, and the Spanish vocabulary associated with these symbols through discussion and a webquest of a variety of resources from The Smithsonian Education and Google’s Arts and Culture websites. In addition, the Disney movie, Coco also provides a source of background knowledge and vocabulary needed to gain understanding of this holiday. 

As a class, they build an ofrenda for famous hispanic people from history. The Cempasuchil (Marigold flower) is one of the symbols of Día de los Muertos. These colorful flowers are used to decorate ofrendas and tombs. 

Students work independently to create their own flower and hand sew a sugar skull, which was all completed with two-three 45 minute class periods. The Light Up Marigolds are shared by placing them on the ofrenda set up in the classroom. By the end of their unit, the class ofrenda was filled with every students’ offerings of a sugar skull, marigold and images of their selected famous historical hispanic person.