Día de los muertos-5th and 2nd Collaboration

Celebrating the rhythms of the liturgical year is one of my favorite things about teaching in a Catholic school.  While Advent and Lent are always special times, we also enjoy observing some of the holidays and feast days, especially those that are an important part of Hispanic culture.  For the día de los muertos (Day of the dead), we participate with an altar downtown, where our art teacher, Ms. Proctor, creates a beautiful display, including a book of letters and drawings from our 3rd and 4th grade students in honor of their loved ones who have died.

We discuss how the Day of the Dead and the way people celebrate Halloween now are very different, even though some parts look similar.  This is a very Catholic celebration for us: a reminder to pray for the dead, and a way to remember and celebrate the lives of our loved ones who have passed.  We also talk about the differences between an altar of remembrance for our loved ones, which is not meant for worship, and the altar in our churches.  It is not scary, but it is fun, and reminds us that we do not have to be afraid of death, because our Lord Jesus has defeated death, and through Him we believe in life everlasting.

Our 5th graders have teamed up with Mrs. Stafford's 2nd grade class to create calacas made out of q-tips.  As cute as their creations are, seeing the kids work together is even cuter!  <3

 

After all that we had talked about, we agreed that the pan de muertos (bread of the dead) was something that could only be learned through experience.  Of course, the best way to enjoy pan is with a nice cup of chocolate mexicano (Mexican hot chocolate).