23+ Activities for Halloween and Day of the Dead

http://www.celebrate-day-of-the-dead.com/day-of-the-dead-facts.html

I've seen several posts on Twitter and on Edmodo that mention activities for Halloween and for Day of the Dead.  Since Blogger has not only been a way for me to share my materials, but also a means to help organize resources so I don't lose them, I decided to list the resources here, in one place, so it will be easy to find in the future. (update: I posted 2 additional ideas as a separate post a year later HERE.)

1. Pumpkin Powerpoint - Guaranteed...that your students will like this powerpoint.  Click HERE for the file. Thanks to the creativity and work of Marta Yedinak and her willingness to share this with us.  (If you download the powerpoint, you'll be able to see when different parts of the sentences appear instead of having it all appear at once.)



2. Canción de la Brujas - I used this song last year, along with a cloze activity.  It is a cute, short video that was easy for my Spanish 1 students.  Click HERE to take you to my post from last year. 

3. Se Hace de Noche - Luis Pescetti leads this short story-like echo that is fitting for Halloween.  I think the first place I saw this suggested was on Kristy Placido's list of YouTube videos.  Click HERE to watch the video.

4.  La Leyenda de la Llorona - Undoubtedly there must be a Spanish teacher that has materials prepared to go along with the legend, but I don't have a link to offer at this time.  Click HERE to see the legend on video.
OR...listen to Joe Hayes tell the legend of La Llorona in Spanish HERE.  He speaks slowly and clearly so students should be able to follow along. I tell the story to my students in Spanish, but leave out some of the details that Joey Hayes tells.  Then the students listen to his retelling and they list new details that I had omitted.

5. La Llorona Cloze activity - Here is a CLOZE activity for La Llorona.  It's very basic, but ready to go if you're in a pinch for an activity.  It's by Joan Baez and the website is:

-->http://youtu.be/4ZsCRrWrNoI  

6.  La Bruja Loca - Lyrics only can be found HERE. The video is HERE.

7. Canción de las Calaveras - I had this on my list of resources but haven't done anything with it thus far. HERE is the video.

8. Go to Zachary Jones' Zambombazo for an activity a song by the Claxons entitled "Día de los Muertos".  Another teacher, Nelly Hughes, made this video of the same song and added lyrics to the video.

9. Video on Día de los Muertos - My colleague told me about this video last year.  Check it out if you're looking for a short video in English about the Day of the Dead.

10.  Make-Up instructional video for Día de los Muertos - This young lady is an expert on transforming her face into a traditional Day of the Dead "look".  If you have a lot of patience, you might want to give this a try and you'll be sure to stand out.   

11.  Pan del Día de los Muertos  - AllRecipes has a recipe to make Bread for Day of the Dead.  I've made this for my students for several years now, or ask them if they want to make it and bring it in.  My suggestion is to go light on the anise seed.  That's one strong seasoning!

12.  Molde de calavera 3-D - I bought this mold at a craft store last year for half price on Halloween, just in time to use it for Day of the Dead. 

13. Task Magic has some worksheets with photos and activities related to Halloween.  Click HERE to go to their website. 

14.  Audrey Misiano, a Spanish and French teacher, shared this odopod sketch on Edmodo.  Fun to watch as the sketch develops.    

15. Skeleton Craft - Audrey Misiano tweeted about this craft, easy enough for elementary school students, a few nights ago. She also made a sample and posted it on her Pinterest board HERE. I'm definitely sharing this activity with my classes this year!

16.  Diá de los Muertos Calavera Collage - THIS is another project that looks fairly simple.

17.  Chocolate Molds for Día de los Muertos and other supplies at Reign Trading Company website.  I found this website and promptly ordered some chocolate molds for my Spanish Club.  There is a variety of objects for sale at this site.  I called the number because I had a few questions about the molds and the lady was super friendly and shared where on the site you can find materials to download to use in class.

18.  Other PINTEREST Boards of Día de los Muertos:

Kelly Ann - http://pinterest.com/kellyann224/day-of-the-dead/

Norma Breaux - http://pinterest.com/normajean333/day-of-the-dead-dia-de-los-muertos/

Celebrate Day of the Dead - http://pinterest.com/source/celebrate-day-of-the-dead.com/

Kimmie Duff - http://pinterest.com/aggiechiquitita/dia-de-los-muertos/

19.  Kristy Placido told me she uses the song "Mi Novio es un Zombie" around Halloween.  Google the title and you'll find several videos from which to choose. 

20.  Los Esqueletos is another song for beginner classes.  Find the video HERE.

21.  Dancing Skeleton - If your students are in need of a brain break, show them THIS VIDEO of a street performer with a dancing skeleton.  It's worth a few laughs.

22.  Teacher Suggested Activities for el Día de los Muertos can be found at THIS website.

23.  Kathy de Lima has a blog in which she posted several videos on Día de los Muertos.  Find her blog HERE.  

Additional resources:

- Skullflake - found at Crafty Lady website - remember those snowflakes you used to make as a child in elementary school.  This is the Day of the Dead version of a "skullflake".  

- Mis Cositas - In-Flight Movie en español - Día de los Muertos

- Ofrendas - bknelson website with ensayo de imágines, entrevistas, una canción

- Video - by Angel Benito.  Sr. Benito says it is appropriate for levels 2 or 3, but there are not many words that would be unfamiliar to my level 1 students, so I think I'll show it to them, as well as my level 2 students. 

- Short Video on Day of the Dead  You can find a worksheet made by C. Miller HERE.

- QUIA Vocabulary Games - concentration, matching, etc. If you go to the home page of Quia, you can find other vocabulary lists and you don't have to be a member to play the games.

- Milk Jug Skeleton - HERE are directions how to make a skeleton out of milk cartons.  Scroll down to see a photo at the bottom.   

- Online Book - Mi Abuela Ya no Está - Joy mentioned this on moretprs. 

- Images "Los Elementos de la ofrendas" - shared by @karajacobs on Twitter.  

**UPDATE: Here are 3 more sites with resources that Martina Bex shared**

http://martinabex.com/?s=halloween

http://martinabex.com/2013/05/09/spanish-ii-final-exam-take-2/  

http://martinabex.com/2013/10/27/el-dia-de-los-muertos/