Day of the Dead Grammar Activities with Free Printable

It's no secret that I LOVE how grammar is taught using the Montessori Method. So when I have an excuse to create more grammar printables that go along with the Montessori Grammar Symbols I don't hesitate.

Such was the case when creating new language activities for el Día de Muertos or el Día de los Muertos otherwise known as the Day of the Dead in English. 

The holiday that originated in Mexico provides so many opportunities to learn about articles, adjectives, nouns, verbs, and prepositions.

Just take a look at these Day of the Dead Grammar activities with a free printable included at the bottom of this post! 

Oh and did I mention that my husband and I decided to create English and Spanish versions of some of these printables? There really is something for everyone here!

El Día de Muertos or el Día de los Muertos is such a fantastic holiday to add to cultural studies in the classroom, especially if you're studying Mexico.

The Day of the Dead is a great alternative to Halloween themed activities.  Unlike Halloween, where skeletons are portrayed as scary, el Día de los Muertos celebrates and honors the dead with beautifully decorated skulls and skeletons that are almost always smiling.

Day of the Dead Grammar Activities with Free Printables

Day of the Dead Noun Family Picture and Word Match Up

This activity is perfect for introducing or reviewing the noun family in grammar studies as it pertains to aspects of el Día de Muertos, celebrated on November 1st and 2nd each year.

The picture cards are created using beautiful, kid-friendly, true-to-life images that depict aspects of the holiday that originated in Mexico.

Each word card includes an article, adjective, and noun, in that order, to help kids identify the pattern easily.

I include our Montessori Grammar Symbols on the work tray to reinforce grammar concepts. 

Source: The printable for this activity is from our Montessori-inspired Day of the Dead Mini Bundle.

Day of the Dead Noun Family Picture and Word Match Up in Spanish

Each of our children has started to study a foreign language of their choice. Princess is studying Spanish. 

I couldn't wait to create a Spanish version of this activity for her to help develop a better understanding of grammar in Spanish and vocabulary related to el Día de los Muertos.

My husband, Jason, and I were both fluent in Spanish before we had kids. Jason actually lived in Torreón, Mexico for two years. I surrounded myself with Spanish speaking people in multiple settings (home, church, work, etc.) and studied the language during college. 

It has been so much fun to entertain that common aspect of our lives as we created these activities for Princess and others who may enjoy them. 

As with all of our activities, we researched the Spanish language to reflect the words used in Mexico, as they relate to the Day of the Dead.  In other Spanish speaking countries, vocabulary terms may vary.

Now, the fun aspect about this activity when studying Spanish, that differs from the English language is that the noun family isn't always in the same order.  In many cases when speaking Spanish, a person says the article, noun, and then the adjective.  

As Princess completes this work, part of the activity will include arranging the Montessori Grammar Symbols in the correct order for each phrase.

Source: The English and Spanish versions of the printable used in the activity above are included in the Day of the Dead Mini Bundle.

Day of the Dead Verb Nomenclature Cards

This activity includes twelve verb cards that depict aspects of el Día de Muertos with kid friendly, beautiful true-to-life images. The cards can be used as matching cards, or as nomenclature cards as depicted in the photograph above.

On the work tray I include the red sphere, which is the Montessori grammar symbol that represents the verb. In the cute little Day of the Dead skull box, I found at the dollar store, are word strips and pictures separated.  The cards at the bottom left hand corner of the tray, below the grammar symbol, are the control cards.

Kids match up the pictures with the word strips and can then check their work using the control cards.

Source: The printable for this activity is from our Montessori-inspired Day of the Dead Mini Bundle.

Day of the Dead Verb Nomenclature Cards in Spanish

My husband and I couldn't resist creating verb cards in Spanish for Princess and anyone who wants to use them. She's just beginning her journey understanding verb conjugation, so to develop a larger verb repertoire will be nice.

At first we'll present the English and Spanish cards as a match up activity. Then we'll provide a Spanish control with word strips and picures from the English set of cards for her to work on.

These cards can be used in so many different ways!

Source: The English and Spanish versions of the printable used in the activity above are included in the Day of the Dead Mini Bundle.

Day of the Dead Preposition Clip Cards

When I find a subject that provides for a great study of prepositions, I jump at the chance to create some beautiful new printables.  In this case, I jumped at the chance to ask my husband to make them for me while I worked on the other el Día de Muertos printables.  Lol. Boy did he deliver!

Students use the mini skulls provided to mark the answer on each of the 12 clip cards in the activity. The Montessori grammar symbol for a preposition is provided as a reminder of what a preposition is.

Source: The printable for this activity is from our Montessori-inspired Day of the Dead Mini Bundle.

Day of the Dead Preposition Clip Cards in Spanish

As with other el Día de los Muertos grammar activities, we have provided a Spanish version of the preposition clip cards to help Princess with her Spanish studies.  

Please note that prepositions are a little different when spoken in Spanish compared to English so answer options may include more than one word. 

No matter what cards you choose to use, we hope you enjoy them!

Source: The English and Spanish versions of the printable used in the activity above are included in the Day of the Dead Mini Bundle.

Day of the Dead Grammar Environment Invitation to Play

To help reinforce grammar concepts, I created an invitation to play that represents various aspects of el Día de Muertos.  The kids will select items and then create sentences using the grammar word strips provided.

In October the kids will be building ofrendas or altars dedicated to deceased loved ones. The grammar word strips will most likely be used with those as well.

What I love most about the Day of the Dead Grammar Environment Word Strips is that the noun section includes abstract ideas, which is hard to pull off with other themes, when teaching nouns.

FREE Day of the Dead Grammar Environment Word Strips

As I was putting together our Day of the Dead Grammar Environment Invitation to Play, I realized that there were so many other words that could be used in our set of word strips that had been left out, due to the constraints of our grammar environment templates. 

For this reason, we've created a few bonus pages that include more adjectives, nouns, and verbs.  

Source: The bonus Day of the Dead Grammar Environment Word Strips Printable Pack is a Subscriber's Only Freebie. To obtain your copy, follow the directions below.

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