Calaveras for Dia de los Muertos

These are calaveras (skeletons) created for the Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos by 2nd-5th grades. 

Dia de los Muertos takes place between November 1st and 2nd. It is a time to remember ancestors who have passed away, spend time with family, and celebrate life. 

1st Day: We learned about folk art and the holiday Dia de los Muertos. Students drew in a skull shape, eyes, nostrils (the shape of seeds or an upside down heart), teeth, and vertebrae (science connection!) with a charcoal pencil. Students painted in specific areas with neon and metallic acrylic paints--basically everything but the calavera itself.

2nd Day: Students learned that a motif is something that repeats again and again in artwork and may be a design or pattern. We identified several motifs in the calaveras; hearts, flowers (whole and in parts), spirals, flourishes, dots, and butterflies. Students selected about three different ones to try on the skull. We drew this time with permanent marker and also filled in the eyes and nostrils (which we left blank last week because a heavy layer of black charcoal on paper is pretty messy). They added color to some of the designs with colored pencils and finally traced a few lines of the motifs they drew with glue and added glitter. 

GLITTER!

Glitter strikes fear in the hearts of many art teachers! Here are a few ideas for working with the sneaky stuff.

Art Teacher Tip 1: Use shallow box lids (like the ones on the boxes of paper in the copy room at school). They are super fantastic glitter stations! I just poured some different colors of glitter into the trays and instructed the students to sprinkle it on their work in the tray and not on the table. 

Art Teacher Tip 2: Assign a "glitter manager" at each table to corral the glitter and dust it off the table and back into the tray. By the way, this was a highly coveted job...just can't get enough of playing with glitter! I totally understand.

Art Teacher Tip 3: Limit the amount of area to be glittered. For example, name only certain parts of the piece for them to add glue and instruct them to do it sparingly. Less is more where glitter is concerned. 

Art Teacher Tip 4: Have them tap the side edge of their piece and dust off their hands into the tray before removing their work. Minimizes traveling glitter!  

Thank you to Patty for the inspiration!