Day of the Dead Craft

What You Do:

1. Have your child draw a large skull shape on a sheet of the cardstock paper, and cut it out. He can refer to our photo for a general shape.
2. Draw the holes for eyes and a nose on the skull, and carefully cut them out with a craft knife.
3. Now your child can draw large flowers for the eyes on the other sheet of cardstock. Make them slightly larger than the eye holes on the mask. We used large poppies for their symbolic value.
4. Use a craft knife to cut out the flowers , and set them aside.
5. Sketch out the decorations for the mask with pencil, filling in the entire skull. Your child can draw out the teeth, decorate the nose and fill it up with flowers, hearts and scrolls, just like the traditional masks.
6. Now he can fill in the decorations on the skull, as well as the two flower eyes, with watercolor. Allow paint to dry completely.
7. Use a black marker to outline everything on the skull and the additional two flowers.
8. Use some glitter glue to add sparkle to the skull, and then let the mask dry completely.
9. Help your child cut a slit in the paper at the top of the forehead, about 1” to 2” long.
10. Then cut a 1” slit at the bottom center of the chin.
11. To create a 3D effect on the forehead, layer one side of the cut over the other and staple it in place. Repeat this with the chin. The mask now has a convex shape.
12. Take the two separate flowers and attach them to the eyeholes on the mask by gluing the edges. Once it’s dry, your child can wear it!