Day of the Dead | Symmetrical Paper Skulls

Day of the Dead | Symmetrical Paper Skulls | 1st Grade

Three colorful, symmetrical paper skulls on a black background, featuring various shapes, patterns, and embellishments inspired by the Day of the Dead.

October 31 to November 2 is the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead. My first grade students learned about the celebration a bit in their Spanish class and then in art class, we read a story about the holiday and drew these symmetrical skull pictures. The book we read was Day of the Dead, by Tony Johnston. It’s a nice story with great pictures. My only complaint is that the book is very very small, so the kids have to all gather around real close to see it.

After the story, we talked about symmetry and the kids traced a skull template and tried to decorate their skulls with symmetrical designs. Sequins and tissue paper were also available as an option.

Two colorful paper masks decorated with assorted shapes, patterns, and drawings against a dark background, resembling Day of the Dead designs. Two colorful, symmetrical skull drawings with various shapes, lines, and embellishments on a black background. Suitable for 1st-grade Day of the Dead activities. Two colorful children's drawings resembling symmetrical paper skulls on a black background.

This was kind of a last-minute project and for next year, I have already ordered a t-shirt and calendar to use for this lesson. I really liked this project, because the kids were really excited about it. The lesson connected to the art and holiday of another culture and taught about symmetry.