How Do Mexicans Celebrate the Day of the Dead?
At the end of October, Mexicans prepare to celebrate the Day of the Dead. The Day of the Dead celebration is two days: November 1 and November 2. On these days, Mexicans remember their dead friends and relatives. Relatives are people in your family.
People are not sad on the Day of the Dead. They are happy. Markets and shops sell special things before the Day of the Dead. They sell candles, flowers, candies, and chocolates that look like skulls and bones. They also sell bread called Bread of the Dead. The bread looks like skulls or bones, too!
Families believe that their dead relatives and friends are going to visit them. They make an altar in their home for their dead visitors. An altar is a special table with pictures of the dead person. People put flowers, candles, and some of the dead person’s favorite things on the altar. The family also puts the dead person’s favorite food and drinks: coffee, water, rice and beans, chicken, fruit, and the special bread and candies for the Day of the Dead. The family also leaves a bowl with water and a clean towel. This is for the dead visitors to wash their hands before the meal. Then the family lights the candles and waits for the dead person to visit them. [230 words]
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At midnight, the family leaves the house. They go to the graves of their relatives. A grave is the place in the ground where people put a dead body. The family cleans the grave. They also decorate it with flowers and candles. Then they have a picnic on the grave with special food and drinks. They tell stories about the dead person and talk to the dead person. They eat, drink, play music, and sing.
Different parts of Mexico have different Day of the Dead traditions. Today, in many big towns, Mexican families get together to have a special dinner at home. They eat the Bread of the Dead at this meal. The Bread of the Dead has a toy skeleton in it. The Mexicans believe that the person who gets the toy skeleton in it. The Mexican believe that the person who gets the toy skeleton will have good luck.
Vocabulary
MEANING
Write the correct words in the blanks.
candles/ meal/ midnight/ favorite/ remember/ bones/ skeleton/ towel
1. Mexicans think about people from the past on the Day of the Dead. They _______ them.
2. Mexicans put _______ at the grave. Thsy want light at the grave.
3. The family eats a special _______ They sit together at the table and eat and drink.
4. The visitors wash their hands with water. Then they dry them with a _______.
5. His _______ food is chicken. He likes it more than all other food.
6. My mother fell. She broke two _______ in her arm.
7. They went to the cemetery at 12 o’clock at night. It was _______.
8. All the bones of a person are called a _______.
WORDS THAT GO TOGETHER
Write the correct words in the blanks.
get together/ have a picnic/ tell stories
1. At the cemetery, they eat food and have drinks. They _______.
2. They remember the dead person and _______ about the person.
3. His family likes to _______ on the Day of the Dead. They meet and do something special.