Sometimes we run out of ideas for what we can do to plan one more thing when you’ve already planned for several preps to teach about Día de los Muertos. I wanted to give you alternate activities for Day of the Dead that students can work on independently! Even though many of us Spanish teachers LOVE to teach about Day of the Dead in our classrooms, sometimes a student requests an alternate activity for Day of the Dead . While this can feel frustrating, it is important to respect the guardians’ wishes and provide an option for those students. Check out this list of alternate activities for Day of the Dead!
Alternate Activities for Day of the Dead
- Research Poster Project – 40 templates with names of famous Hispanics filled in, perfect for lots of choices! Students learn about and recognize contributions made by Hispanic and Latino Americans to the United States and world.
- Research the artist José Guadalupe Posada – who was he, what type of work did he do, etc. Here is an artist research poster project to help with the format if you’d like!
- Have them learn about monarch butterfly migration instead
- Create an informative presentation on a family member including similar information that you have students put on an ofrenda project
- Write a persuasive essay about why Día de los Muertos is against their religion or beliefs
- Introductions and Personal Descriptions of Gente Famosa – 24 short readings about famous people of Hispanic heritage written in comprehensible language. The readings are a basic introduction and personal description of each person! There’s also an activity to do a comparison between one person and themselves!
- Complete a research poster project on a different holiday celebration of their choice
- Read about the Festival de Barriletes in Guatemala
- Have them do a cultural comparison between Día de Los Muertos and Memorial Day
- Complete a virtual field trip activity on their own
Alternate Activities for Día de los Muertos
You might have noticed that the activities above are in varying ranges of including elements of Día de los Muertos, to avoiding it entirely. You know your students and your community best – some might just not want to participate in a celebration, but are okay with reading about it, while others might not even feel comfortable with it being mentioned. Hopefully this list gives you some good ideas and a place to jump from if you need a quick alternative assignment!
