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Description

Learning the difference between the 2 celebrations, crafts, and games

Resources

Printout of skull
Print out for hat decorating
Paper
Colouring pencils
Scissors
String, if you want to make the skull into a mask
A hat or something to pass around - We used some crocheted pumpkins with witch hats on

Instructions

Halloween
The history to share:
More than 2,000 years ago, Celtic communities in parts of Europe, particularly Ireland, marked Samhain (pronounced sow-in), a seasonal festival associated with the end of harvest and the beginning of winter.
Some historical accounts connect this time with beliefs about spirits and the world of the dead, although the exact relationship between Samhain and modern Halloween is debated.
Christianity later established All Saints' Day on 1 November, with All Souls' Day on 2 November. The evening before All Saints' Day became known as All Hallows' Eve, which gave us the word Halloween.
Over many centuries, customs evolved. Carved turnips, later pumpkins, costumes, parties, and trick-or-treating became part of Halloween familiar to many children today.
Summary
Halloween is a holiday with origins in an ancient Celtic festival. It was celebrated 2000 years ago at the end of the harvest, before the beginning of the cold, dark winter, both to give thanks to the spirits for a fruitful harvest as well as to scare the spirits of the dead from causing sickness, plague and crop damage. Masks and carved turnips (not pumpkins!) with scary faces were used to scare these naughty spirits away from their villages.

Day of the dead - Día de los Muertos
The history to share:
Indigenous peoples in what is now Mexico had traditions of honouring the dead long before Spanish colonisation.
After the Spanish arrived in the 16th century, Indigenous traditions interacted with Catholic observances such as All Saints' Day on 1 November and All Souls' Day on 2 November. Over time, these influences helped shape the celebration we know today.
Families may create an ofrenda with photographs and meaningful objects, flowers, food, and drinks to welcome and remember deceased loved ones.
Marigolds are especially important in many traditions, and decorated skulls can represent death as part of the cycle of life rather than something that must only be frightening.
Summary
Day of the Dead is a beautiful, spiritual family holiday to honor the memory of dead relatives. It's not really the memory of their death but spending time thinking about and feeling the essence of their life. It's a bonding time and respectful time that brings generations together within a family and the entire community.


Craft ~15mins
1.Day of the Dead - Draw and/or colour in a skull with different patterns
You can use any colours for your design but each colour has a special meaning:
Red is used to represent our blood
Orange to represent the sun
Yellow to represent the Mexican marigold (which represents death itself)
Purple is pain (though in other cultures, it could also be richness and royalty)
Pink and white are hope, purity, and celebration
Black represents the Land of the Dead

2. Day of the Dead - Papel picado
Make paper snowflake-like cuttings - a traditional Mexican folk art that involves cutting elaborate, perforated designs into sheets of tissue paper

3.Draw a witch’s hat

Quiz
“Halloween has always been celebrated with pumpkins.” (False!)
“Halloween gets its name from a Christian festival.” (True.)
“People have always celebrated Halloween exactly as we do today.” (False.)
What is Halloween's name connected to? The evening before All Saints' Day became known as All Hallows' Eve, which gave us the word Halloween
What does an ofrenda help a family do? to welcome and remember deceased loved ones

The key comparison

Halloween
31 October. Shaped by ancient seasonal customs, Christian observances, and later folk traditions. Today, many people enjoy costumes, spooky stories, parties, and trick-or-treating.

Día de los Muertos
Around 1–2 November. Shaped by Indigenous Mexican traditions and Catholic influences. Many families honour loved ones who have died through ofrendas, photographs, flowers, food, and shared memories.

The most important takeaway is that two celebrations can share symbols, dates, and historical influences without having the same meaning. Halloween often makes a game of the spooky; Día de los Muertos often makes space to remember and celebrate people who are no longer with us. Both can be explored with curiosity, but each deserves to be understood on its own terms.

Game - La Gallina Ciega or “Blind Hen”
La Gallina Ciega or “Blind Hen” is the game of blind man’s buff and is
played by children in Mexico. Have your own game.
How to Play
Choose "It": Select one player to wear a soft blindfold (like a scarf or bandana).
Disorient: Gently spin the blindfolded player around a few times.
Scatter: The other players move around the space, trying to dodge the seeker while teasing them or making noise to guide or trick them.
Tag or Identify: When the seeker catches someone, they must either tag them to make them "It" or guess who they have caught by feeling their face and hair.

Game - Pass the sombrero
Pass the sombrero...like pass the parcel but if you’re wearing the sombrero (your hat) when the music stops you must do a forfeit.
(Mariachi music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZRbcVG6WEQ&list=PLujOlA0EuuHBfNPi98iLkIkxDc0IxEGdD&index=2 - might have to wait for YouTube adds!)
Put your hat on and off as quickly as possible while the music is playing, if you have the hat on when the music stops you do a forfeit.

Forfeits
Do these in order and play the music one more time after setting the final forfeit to play out the forfeit and end the game.
Run round your chair 5 times or on the spot for 10 seconds
Do 3 push ups
Act and sound like a bird
Act and sound like an elephant
Make a funny face
Turn your t-shirt or jumper all the way round without taking it off (or half way round)
For the next round alternate between putting your hat on your head and on your foot

Tags

• Day of the dead / Dia De Los Muertos
• halloween

Badge Links

• International - Festival
• World - Faith/culture
• World - Festival
• World - Foreign game
• World - Worship