Safety Tips for the Holidays: Día de Los Muertos

Día de los Muertos — or “Day of the Dead” — is a Mexican holiday that is celebrated from October 31-November 2. The weekend is a time to celebrate the dead, sending love and respect to loved ones who have passed on.

Día de los Muertos history
Día de los Muertos dates back 3,000 years, when the Aztecs — who lived in what is now known as Mexico — saw death not as something to be mourned, but just another part of the cycle of life. Back then, family members of the dead would leave food and water to help their loved ones through the journey of making it to their final resting place.

Celebrating Día de los Muertos
While the way the holiday is celebrated has evolved over the years, today Día de los Muertos is still a day to honor and remember dead loved ones. It’s often marked by activities such as wearing colorful skull masks, face painting, eating sugar skull candy, and baking pan de muerto, a sweet bread that is commonly used as an offering to the dead.

While it’s definitely possible to celebrate Día de los Muertos while COVID is still present, it’s important to take safety precautions while doing so. According to the CDC, that means staying six feet apart from people outside of your household, celebrating with a small group outdoors, and only meeting virtually with those who don’t live in your household.

This year, the CDC recommends avoiding activities like participating in large, indoor events, singing indoors with people outside of your household and celebrating with anyone who have come from other parts of the country or world to be there.

“Some general principles that might be considered are: be outside, lay out on a deck or lawn so that you have spacing; you can cluster family units that are living together. It still may not be the best idea to bring elderly grandparents to a large family gathering,” Dr. Kevin D. Dieckhaus, the chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at UnConn Health Department of Medicine told CTPost earlier this year.

Between transitioning to virtual learning, changing their daily routines, and self-isolating, this year has included a lot of change for kids. So it’s even more important to maintain fun traditions that children look forward to each year as much as we can, while still staying safe to help maintain a sense of normalcy.

Celebrating Día de los Muertos is something that many parents do with their kids each year. “I think it’s important to teach my children about Día de los Muertos because I want them to have an understanding of their own ethnic heritage, and I want to instill a sense of pride in their culture,” Denise Cortes previously wrote for Mom.com. “We make the conscious effort to remember our loved ones who were very important parts of our lives and have passed on.”

There are many ways to take part in the holiday without risking your or your children’s health and safety. Here are a few ideas.

• Celebrate virtually with friends and family with Zoom, Skype, or FaceTime.
• Bake Día de los Muertos recipes at home and create a fun feast.
• Have a family movie night and watch Disney’s Coco, or The Book of Life especially with young children.
• Read a book with your kids that celebrates Día de los Muertos.
• Build an ofrenda to memorialize loved ones.
• Make papier maché skulls and paint them or a Día de los Muertos banner to hang in your window.

Even though celebrations will be different this year, they can still be a lot of fun. We can keep those Día de los Muertos celebrations alive, all while staying safe at the same time.