El día de los muertos

El día de los muertos is fast approaching (November 1st and 2nd). All 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students will take part in the Day of the Dead learning experience this week and early next week. Day of the Dead is a Mexican celebration that remembers loved ones who have died. Students will learn specifically how this holiday is celebrated, and this year we have the good fortune of doing so through our ipads.



Simply Sweet Apps has created an iPhone/iPad app in honor of Day of the Dead, a traditional family oriented holiday.

Many celebrate this holiday of remembrance by dressing up in costumes and makeup inspired by La Calavera Catrina (or ‘The Elegant Skull’); the DAY of the DEAD ME app gives you the opportunity to decorate an image with traditional festive makeup and flowers.

Day of the Dead Me app allows you to place a variety of traditional images, such a painted eyes and facial decorations, onto any photo and digital face paint in the style of sugar skull makeup. You can personalize photos of yourself and loved ones, or even pictures of your favorite celebrities. The app is user-friendly, age-friendly, and is less than a dollar.

Day of the Dead Me app includes resizable image templates: Roses, facial scrolls, skull nose, hats, moustaches, painted eyes & chins, and much more! There are additional face-decorating features and flowers options available for purchase in art packs.

I would also encourage students to download the following game to help them learn about the traditions surround Day of the Dead:

Día de Muertos by WashaWasha Games

 This game is surprisingly simple, and incredibly addicting. Watch the skeletons pop up in different boxes, wait to see the icon for which element of the ofrenda they need – flowers, pan de muerto, prayer, or tequila – and then race to give it to them before they go back underground. Sometimes, two or three of them will pop up at one time! And watch out for the bar at the top that fills as you miss opportunities to feed them; that indicates they are “pulling your feet.”

Find Día de Muertos on iTunes

Available for iPad and iPhone

Lastly, students should download Day of the Dead Experience the Tradition by University of Notre Dame.

Explore the Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos), a traditional Mexican celebration of the lives of ancestors, through spectacular photographs, audio, interviews, and video footage. Experience this growing cultural tradition, which has, in recent years, become a cross-border cultural movement embraced as a new—and evolving—American tradition.