Monarca Language shared this awesome Day of the Dead inspired coloring sheet for our niños. Stay tuned for more Day of the Dead printables and check out our Celebrate Day of the Dead page for more activities, recipes and informational posts.

Click here for the full printable version of the coloring sheet pictured above. 

For more Spanish educational materials for niños visit Monarca Language and like them on Facebook.

Papel picado is a beautiful Mexican tradition that is a staple in many Mexican celebrations. It’s no secret that we love to celebrate cultural holidays here with our niños; each holiday gives us the opportunity to teach them something new about a country and culture. Often times we end up learning a lot ourselves! The upcoming celebration for Cinco de Mayo is a holiday which gives us many opportunities to learn about Mexico’s rich history and culture. It’s also a great time to have conversations in Spanish and learn new vocabulary.

Recently we stumbled upon the Ay Mujer Shop, a family-owned business that is dedicated to making fine, modern papel picado. We were instantly obsessed with all they do.

The Ay Mujer family has recently come out with a Papel Picado DIY kit which is perfect for the upcoming Cinco de Mayo celebration, Día de Muertos, birthday parties or any day that you’re feeling crafty. Each kit makes four 6-foot banners and they include a variety of cheerful colors that brighten up the room. The kit is completely bilingual, (English,Spanish) and the paper is 100% recycled. The kit also comes with a little surprise: cardboard palomitas (doves) that you can pop-out and keep!

The papel picado kits are available at the Ay Mujer Shop now (hurry! These will not last too long!). They include: string for four 6-foot banners, 48 cut paper flags in mixed bright colors and designs, non-toxic glue stick, crafting instructions & informational insert. The paper flags are hand crafted. And of course, we’re not just going to tell you about these awesome banners without a chance to win one for yourself!

The Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My first memories of Día de Los Muertos was the smell of fresh mole and bolillos (baguettes) that my grandmother made and we took to the cemetery where her parents and siblings were buried, this repeated every November first, it was the most magical event of the year for me. I didn’t really know about Halloween then.

Abuelita said that bringing your relatives’ favorite foods to their tomb will bring their souls back to their buried bodies and we will feel close to them again –“death is part of life and we shouldn’t be afraid of it,” she used to say. She died last year in her sleep; she was not afraid to welcome La Muerte (lady death).

To bring her close to our heart, my son and I made an altar with some of her favorite items: Virgin de Guadalupe, Saints, Claveles (flowers) and fruit (sorry Abue, I don’t make mole!)

The one thing I learned about the sugar skulls and why you write your name on them is to think of your own death as part of your own life – in a sweet way – to not be afraid of it, just like Abuelita said. To celebrate our dead we decorate tombs or at-home-altars with Flor de Cimpasúchil, papel picado, tissue paper flowers, sugar skulls, pan de muerto, atole, fruits and the beautiful Catrinas o Calaveras which were made famous by painter Diego Rivera in his Mural Sueño de una Tarde Dominical en Alameda Central

One of the places in Mexico that has celebrated the Day of the Dead for centuries is Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, 30 minutes from where I grew up. This place is as magical as my childhood memories. In this town every November 1st, you can feel the souls of your ancestors, you can smell  wonderful foods and enjoy the vivid colors of the decorations. We believe the dead take the food’s flavors, therefore you are not supposed to eat the food offered to the ancestors. It is a big and colorful celebration that lasts all night!

{Photo courtesy of Michoacán el Alma de México}

I would like to invite you to celebrate your loved ones that have passed by sharing your Dia de Muertos pictures and stories on SpanglishBabyPlayground.  You can try to cook their favorite foods and decorate an altar with their pictures. I think it’s a wonderful experience for the whole family and especially for our SpanglishBabies who will continue a very dear cultural tradition their ancestors have celebrated for centuries.

This weekend the kids and I are preparing to attend our first ever Festival to celebrate Mexican Independence Day! With the Fiestas Patrias coming up I felt it was only right to teach the kids a little more of our Mexican culture and so we’re crafting for Hispanic Heritage Month!

Since we will be attending a festival that is said to have a parade, what better way to show our pride then by waving colorful Papel Picado Flags!

Papel picado is one of the most used decorations in the Mexican culture. While it has become a modern trend at weddings and birthday parties, these stenciled tissue papers are usually hung like streamers. To have them on a little flag is not only cute, but very easy for kids to celebrate with!

To make some of your own here is what you will need:

-Tissue paper

-Wooden sticks

-Scissors- decorative and/or  regular

-adhesive- we used dots

Let’s get started:

1- Fold your tissue paper (appx. 8×10 in size) and fold in 5ths

2-Folding only in 4th and leaving the 5th portion off cut the bottoms in decorative form. We used zigzag scissors.

3- Cut shapes, Like  half circles, at the fold. Remember not to cut the fold off completely this will cut your flag in to pieces.

4- Open it up half way and do the same. The more cuts the more decoration on your flag!

5- Open up your flag and place adhseive on the stick directly. I found that if you roll the stick onto the tissue flag that it is easier to secure.

All done with your Banderita! Repeat with different colors and enjoy!

Now Let’s Celebrate!