Elementary art lesson for making pop-up cards or dioramas in the form of an ofrenda for the Mexican Days of the Dead

1. Muertos Pop-Up Ofrendas
Introduction
In Mexico, altars known as ofrendas are erected in homes, businesses,
schools, and churches for Día de los Muertos. Students will learn about ofrenda
traditions and make a pop-up ofrenda in honor of a famous artist, someone they
know, or a pet.
Objectives
1. Students will understand the history and evolution of Día de los Muertos, a
Mexican tradition, and the way that ofrendas are central to that tradition.
2. Students will discuss the materials that are used to create traditional
ofrendas for Día de los Muertos and how they are constructed.
3. Students will discover how to create a muertos pop-up ofrenda.
4. Students will collaboratively work to construct and display ofrendas.
Background Information
In Mexico, ofrendas are found in every home and decorated with
photographs of the deceased, flowers such marigold, cockscomb, or
cempasúchil (sem-pah-soo’-cheel), petate mats, candles, personal mementos,
pan de muerto (bread of the dead), papel picado (paper cut-outs), miniature toys,
food (favorite food and drink of the honoree), water, salt, and kopal incense (a
resinous incense). Ofrendas are often completely covered with objects, so
encourage students to develop a variety of offerings.
Materials and Resources
 Colored poster board 8” x 14”, 2 per muertos pop-up ofrenda
 glue sticks, scissors

2.  cardboard scraps, colored paper scraps, patterned paper, tissue paper,
foam scraps (optional)
 pencils, markers
 Mylar tape, colored masking tape
 Sequins or decorative stickers
 Images of Calaveras and Dia de los Muertos themes
Vocabulary
Ofrenda (oh-fren’-dah), f. Altar or offering.
Pan de Muerto (pahn-theh-mwehr’-toh), m. Sweet bread prepared for the Day of the
Dead.
Papel Picado (pah-pel pee-kah’-tho), m. Cut tissue paper or foil banners; literally,
“perfora
Motivation
Show and discuss images of ofrendas and the meanings of the objects they may
contain for the Days of the Dead. Demonstrate how the pop-up will function.
Procedures
1. Cut one piece of poster board for double slit pop-ups. More than one pop-
up “tab” can be created.
a. Fold poster board in half horizontally.
b. Plan out how many pop-up tabs desired, and begin by drawing two
parallel 1” horizontal lines from the crease going up on one side of
the poster board.
c. Cut along the two horizontal lines, making a tab or flap.
d. Carefully make a crease between the two slits, folding the flap
forward, then backward.
e. Unfold the flap to its previous position, and then open the card.
f. To form the pop-up, pull out the section that was cut to create a 3-D
pop-out shape that looks like a chair.
g. Repeat as steps for each pop-up tab desired.
2. Fold the second piece of poster board in half “hamburger style”.

3. 3. Nestle the poster boards together and tape ONLY the top halves of the
boards together with colored masking tape to create a colorful border.
4. Using patterned and colored papers, images, photos, drawings, Mylar
tape and other decorations, design and decorate the poster board.
5. When finished, write on a pre-cut piece of notebook paper about the
person/animal remembered and celebrated in the ofrenda, or a short
poem/paragraph about Dia de los Muertos.
6. Open the bottom of the poster boards. Glue the written piece of notebook
paper onto the top face of the bottom board. Use materials to make flat
decorations around the notebook paper.
Nancy Walkup
nancywalkup@mac.com