Have you ever been to Mexico? In November 1st and 2nd Mexico has a very unique celebration. Come and check our five dazzling the Day of the Dead facts for kids.
The Day of the Dead, or Día de los Muertos, is a festival that takes place every November 1st and 2nd in Mexico and other parts of the world. The Day of the Dead is a very important time in which people remember their dead relatives and celebrate them.
They do this by looking back on all the memories they shared. The Day of the Dead is not the same as Halloween.
During the Day of the Dead festival, altars are set up in people’s homes and also in cemeteries. These altars are called ofrendas. These altars are used to welcome the spirits back to earth, they believe these altars act as a gateway for the spirits.
Family and friends decorate the altars in beautiful flowers, particularly Marigolds, candles, family photos and even food and water for the spirits after their long journey. Marigolds are bright yellow and orange flowers. The marigold petals are scattered from the altar to the gravesite to guide all the wandering souls to their gravesite.
Given its name, you may have thought this day would be filled with black clothing and no celebrations, but the Day of the Dead is the opposite! People paint their faces as skulls with bright colourful paints. Women dress in colourful dresses and men dress in suits for the occasion.
Colourful paper decorations, flowers and paper mache skeletons are used to decorate the streets, people’s homes, altars and gravesites. Have you ever seen the Disney movie “COCO”? That is about the Day of the Dead and it shows just how colourful the day is.
During the Day of the Dead, Bread of Dead or Pan de Muerto is eaten. This is not as frightening as it sounds. The Bread of the Dead is a sweet bread that is flavoured with spices and decorated with dough shaped as flowers, skulls and bones.
The bread is very yummy and is eaten by all the families on the Day of the Dead. The bread is also offered up to the spirits and placed on the altars.
This may seem scary to some people, but on the Day of the Dead celebrations take place at the graveyards. Families visit the gravesites of their dead ancestors and clean the gravestones. The gravesites are then decorated in flowers and colourful decorations.
The family will spend the day at the gravesite eating, dancing and remembering their past loved ones. They use this time to speak to their ancestors who they believe have come back to earth through the ofrendas, which are the altars.
We hope you enjoyed learning more things about the Day of The Dead as much as we loved teaching you about them. Now that you know how majestic the the Day of The Dead is, you can move on to learn about world festivals, religions and Myths like: Irish Festival, Festivals in Mexico, Festivals in India, Mexican Tradition, the Day of the Dead in Mexico, Ancient Greek Religion, Anglo-Saxons, Mystical Creatures, Minotaur, Ogres, Midas, Mermaids, 12 Olympians, Celtic Mythology, Zodiac Myths, Cats in Egyptian Mythology, Snakes in Egyptian Mythology, Greek Mythology Books, Greek Mythology Stories, Hideous Creatures, Hecate, Medusa, Athena, Egyptian Gods, Greek Gods, God of Fire in Egypt and Legendary Norse Mythology.
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