Monday, October 19, 2009

Mexican Day of the Dead


I LOVE the Mexican celebration of Day of the Dead (November 2nd). Many people think it's morbid and don't understand the calaveras (sugar skulls) used to represent the deceased. Actually, el Dia de los Muertos and the altars that commemorate loved ones who have passed away are a true celebration of peoples' lives.

Every year, I take the kids to see the Day of the Dead exhibit at the National Museum of Mexican Art in the Pilsen neighborhood in Chicago. We enjoy the colorful artwork and the altars and then we head on over to one of our favorite Mexican Restaurants--Nuevo Leon. But before we leave the museum, I always let the kids pick out a calavera. These colorful skulls are used to decorate the altars throughout the exhibit. (You can learn more about el Dia de los Muertos here.)

This year, I ordered a skull making kit to make our own sugar skulls at home. At first, I was a bit intimidated by the whole process, but I quickly learned how easy it is to make a sugar skull. In fact, I let each of the boys decorate a calavera as well and I was pleased with the results...

Joey's calavera:



Sammy's Calavera (at least I think that's a sugar skull under there!)

1 comment:

Carmen Rodriguez said...

Yeesh. I guess I need to ramp up my cultural exposure activities, especially since the kids are Mexican... I keep trying to block that out! (The Cuban in me is so snippy!)