About Día de Los Muertos
- Read History of Day of the Dead & The Sugar Skull Tradition
- Día de los Muertos ~ Day of the Dead - from the Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum. An interactive transmedia book focusing on Latino culture and the Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) Festival. Free iBook. (2014)
Ofrenda Checklist & Day of the Dead Information Sheet
Ofrendas (altars) are built inside the homes of the believers of Day of the Dead in Central and Southern Mexico. While there are regional differences in styles of the ofrendas due to income or custom, there are many altar mainstays to greet the weary spirits when they arrive. The children return on November first and the adults join their families on November 2.
Children's ofrendas are customized and decorated with delightful foods, candies and toys in miniature... miniature tamales, chocolates, tiny breads etc. Adult ofrendas feature the traditional candles, fruit, tamales, mole, mezcal, cempasuchil as well as photos, fashion magazines, cigars or folk art skeletons... and every ofrenda has pan de muerto and sugar skulls!
This impressive ofrenda in Michoacan uses aromatic marigolds, colored corn, and very unusually shaped pan de muerto breads, that represent female spirits of the dead.
We offer free, down-loadable information sheets on Day of the Dead and how to make a home altar (ofrenda). Feel free to print them and distribute them in your school. Day of the Dead is frequently misunderstood and we'd like to educate anyone about what a meaningful and beautiful holiday this is.
