MeXICo~! Calaveras!

Otherwise known as SKULLS!

This is a great introduction video for the kids. Evn though it starts off morbid, it gets the message across really nicely that the Day of the Dead is in fact a happy day and a true fiesta!

DAY OF THE DEAD ANIMATION

We started out with these paper plate Calaveras, moving up to large paper ones and then tried our hands at a salt dough skull too!

I guess kids like the idea of something scary being cute and of course, the chance to really put their art skills to use!

Paper plate calaveras!

Paper calaveras

Cavalera salt dough beads!

INDiA ~~ Holi~ & Rangoli~!

We made our own natural dyes!!

See HERE for instructions


For the theme of India, I thought it would be great to mimic the Festival of colours, but with all that synthetic stuff, it would be difficult to really enjoy the process of getting messy.

First we practiced making flower shapes by starting with a circle and then pushing out the flour. Some of the children really enjoyed mixing the colours for this activity.

Then, came the floor painting - 

We started with water colours and small paintbrushes
...moving onto the spot paint pens, which was way more fun.

The kids loved this - floor activities are always fun plus they can add
their own personal touches too! (How many smiley faces can you see?)

(In this instance, we didn't use the flour for the floor design; we just took it to the park ad played with the colours. That was fun enough!)