1st Grade Dia De Los Muertos Skulls

In October, students learned about the Mexican celebration of Dia De Los Muertos. Skulls are a very important part of the celebration where the dead are remembered and their lives are celebrated. Students began the lesson by talking about their personal experiences with Dia De Los Muertos (many students had traveled to Mexico and experienced this day of remembrance). Then, students looked at various examples of skulls created by Modern Artists (the Mexican Fine Arts Museum in Chicago has a wonderful Dia De Los Muertos exhibit). Then, students were given a pre-cut skull tracer where they traced their skull on a piece of 9 x 12" construction paper. They used the caps of baby food to trace the eyes onto different pieces of colored construction paper. Then, they made the nose out of construction paper by creating a heart and then turning it upside down. For the mouth, students were shown how to fold the paper in half to create the design. Finally, students created teeth by cutting squares out of white scrap paper. After students were done construction the face of their skull, they used modern examples of skull designs to draw Dia De Los Muertos inspired designs on their skulls using colored pencils. Once their designs were approved, they added glitter and sequins to thier skulls. As the final step, students glued their skulls to a piece of bright construction paper and then added yarn around the outer edge as inspiration from Huichol Yarn Drawings.