Six steps to hosting a Day of the Dead LDS youth activity

Family history and remembering our ancestors can be super fun and memorable if you throw a Day of the Dead LDS youth activity. It’s a colorful and memorable way to pay tribute to those family members who have passed on. Here’s how to do it.

As the culminating event during our Youth Temple and Family History Month, this Day of the Dead activity was the perfect way to help our youth remember their ancestors in a unique and exciting way. It was a hit! As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we believe that we will be reunited with our family members after this life. That’s why Day of the Dead or Dia de los Muertos is a wonderful way to celebrate family. Here’s five tips to get you started.

#1: Print your Dia de los Muertos invitation

If you want your youth to get excited about this activity, you need to have a nice invitation. I designed this simple Day of the Dead invitation that is customizable. Just click on the link below.

Click here to print your Day of the Dead party invitation

#2: Go all out with decorations

We held this activity during the end of September. This was perfect timing because there were tons of Day of the Dead decorations at the store. We ended up buying a ton of stuff at the Dollar Store. We wanted to have a few cute decorations as centerpieces for the dinner tables plus other decorations to place around the room. Here’s some ideas of what you could use for decorations:

• Mexican fiesta colorful banner
• Silk Marigold flowers
• Sugar Skull table centerpieces
• Bride and groom skeleton couple
• Halloween Sugar Skull signs

We placed some cute decorations at the center of each table with some colorful ribbon draped across. Then, I added a life-size skeleton with a cool hat on the stage for everyone to look at when they walked in.

#3: Nachos for dinner

All of our youth voted to have nachos for dinner for our Day of the Dead LDS Youth Activity. As leaders, we were happy because that’s a super easy meal to prepare. Plus, it ended up being so yummy. We borrow some chafer pans from my neighbor and warmed all the hot ingredients until we were ready to eat. Here’s the ingredients for the nachos

• Tortilla chips
• Nacho cheese sauce
• Guacamole
• Sour Cream
• Black beans
• Ground beef
• Spanish rice
• Pico de Gallo
• Jalapeños

We also made sure that the leaders served the youth so they didn’t get nacho cheese sauce everywhere. Plus, we had to ration the ground beef and didn’t want any of the kids taking more than their share.

#4: Ofrenda and speaker

We asked a member from our ward–whose family is from Mexico–to set up an authentic Ofrenda for everyone to look at. Ofrenda means offering in Spanish. It is basically an table that has photos and memorabilia of loved ones in your family who have passed on. Then, this ward member spoke to our youth about the significance of the Day of the Dead and remembering our ancestors. He told some stories about his own family. It was really cool.

#5: Invite youth to share their own stories

One of the coolest parts of our Day of the Dead LDS Youth Activity, was listening to the youth tell stories about their own family members who have passed on. We encouraged each of them to bring a photo of that particular family member and then tell a story about them while they were eating dinner. It was great to see the connections they were making with their ancestors.

#6: Share desserts from family recipes

We also had about 20 of our youth sign up to bring a dessert that is a family favorite or comes from their heritage. When they arrived, they wrote down their name and what kind of dessert they brought and set it in front of their dessert. It was really cool to see all the different desserts that people brought.

Overall, this Day of the Dead LDS Youth Activity turned out to be so much fun. The nachos were a hit and the overall atmosphere was a celebration of family and heritage. It was really cool and a complete success. Let me know how it goes in your ward! If you didn’t see the link to the printable invitation, click on the link below:

Click here to print your Day of the Dead party invitation

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