El día de los muertos ~ 5 Day of the Dead Classroom Activities

El Día de los Muertos is just around the corner. Here are five activity ideas for your classroom!


1. Make QUICK and SIMPLE {make in 20 minutes!} sugar candy skulls!

2. Want even more sugary treats? These marshmallow sugar skull pops by mom.me are sooooo pretty!

3. Learn what the Day of the Dead is all about. Then complete a sorting activity for what is typical & what is not typical on the Day of the Dead.

4. Let the students face paint Day of the Dead faces on each other. Here is an easy tutorial from mom.me.

5. Or if you prefer something less messy, make paper plate Calavera masks.

What's your favorite classroom Day of the Dead activity? Comment below!

Quick & Easy Day of the Dead Sugar Candy Skulls

October! Can you smell the sugar in the air? Let's make candy skulls to celebrate the day of the Dead!
#What'sABitMoreSugar

I love this recipe because the candy prep time is minimal and they do not need to be baked. I've been able to mix up during class time and still have the students make these during class periods as short as 20 minutes!

Ingredients
4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp cream or milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 - 1/2 tsp mint extract

Mix all of the ingredients together. Make sure your butter is at room temperature and it will mix together with a minute or two of mixing. It will have the consistency of cookie dough.

You will also need:
paper towels
various types of sprinkles
Dixie cups (optional)
baby wipes

Directions:
1. Pass out a paper towel to each student. Pour a small amount of sprinkles on each paper towel. If you don't have a lot of class time, you can pre-prep your sprinkles by pouring them into Dixie cups and then have student helpers pass out the paper towels and pre-filled Dixie cups.

2. Demonstrate how to form a skull. First you will roll your dough into a ball. Then gently squeeze the bottom part to form the jaw of the skull.

3. Pass out a small amount of "dough" to each student. I like to use a cookie scoop so my hands stay out of the dough and everyone gets the same amount.

4. Let the fun begin! The students will form the skull, decorate, and eat!
While they are making their candy, pass out a baby wipe to each student for easy clean up.

So ... once I had a group of students come to me after PE. I don't know what they were doing in PE, but their hands were filthy and their skulls ended up black ... and they still ate them!!! Ewwwwww!!! Don't be me. Have the students wash their hands before coming to your class.
#BlackSkullsAreNot Cool