How to Celebrate Día de los Muertos at Home with Kids: Teaching Love, Memory, and the Impermanence of Life
- Ashley Romero
- Oct 31
- 4 min read
(EST 4 min reading time)
Every November, as marigolds bloom and candles flicker, families across Mexico and Latin America honor Día de los Muertos — the Day of the Dead — a celebration of love that continues beyond life itself.
For parents, it’s a beautiful opportunity to help children understand life, death, and remembrance in an empowering way.
At Mi Casa Es Tu Casa, we believe that by celebrating Día de los Muertos at home, families can nurture emotional intelligence, connection, and gratitude — all while creating traditions and learning about the rich culture around this holiday.
How to Talk About Death and Impermanence with Children
Explaining death, grief, and impermanence to kids can feel daunting. Día de los Muertos provides a gentle entry point to these big ideas.
You can start by talking about nature’s cycles:
“Just like the seasons change, every living thing has a time to grow, rest, and transform. When someone we love dies, their body stops working, but their love and the memories we have stay with us forever.”
This helps children understand impermanence as a transition, rather than as an ending. It helps see life as movement, not disappearance.
By introducing this concept early, you help your child develop emotional resilience — the ability to hold love and loss together without fear.
As we guide our children through these conversations, it’s also important to make room for our own feelings, and allow grief a gentle place at the table. When we name it and honor it, we show our children that love and loss can coexist, and that both are important and deserve space in our hearts. 💛
Transforming Absence into Connection
Instead of focusing on the absence of a loved one, invite your child to continue building a relationship with them — in new, creative ways.
Here are meaningful ideas for keeping that bond alive:
1) Talk to them out loud or in your heart. Encourage your child to share about their day, tell stories, or ask questions to their loved one’s photo.
2) Draw or write letters. Art is a powerful bridge — children can express love and curiosity through drawing or letter-writing.
3) Cook or do something they loved. Preparing a favorite meal, singing a song, or planting their favorite flower helps transform memory into ritual.
4) Create family traditions. Light a candle every year, look through photos, or listen to a song that reminds you of them.
5) Ask reflective questions. “What do you think Grandma would tell us today?” helps children feel their loved one’s continued influence.
These acts show children that relationships don’t end when life does — they evolve. Love becomes something we carry and nurture, not something we lose.
How to Carry the Deeper Meaning of el Dia de Los Muertos with You
When celebrated mindfully, Día de los Muertos helps children understand that grief and joy can coexist.
And this is a lesson you and your little one will learn together over and over (not just on Nov 1st & 2nd).
Children who learn to approach loss with openness grow into adults who can face change and impermanence with empathy, gratitude, and wonder.
Visit our blog post, "Resources to Help Children & Families with Separation & Grief"
These resources are gentle, age-appropriate, and grounded in emotional intelligence — perfect for families who want to open conversations with compassion and care.
Honoring Life, Love, and Connection — Even in the Earliest Years
At Mi Casa Es Tu Casa, our community altar for Día de los Muertos is lovingly set up each year in our studio for families with babies and toddlers ages 0–4. Even at this young age, children are absorbing the world through emotion, observation, and story.
We believe that deep, meaningful concepts like love, loss, and remembrance can and should be introduced early — gently, playfully, and with curiosity. Whether it’s a toddler helping place a marigold on the altar, a preschooler drawing a picture of a grandparent, or a parent sharing a story about someone they loved, each small act plants the seeds of empathy, reverence, and emotional understanding.
We invite you to join us in celebrating Día de los Muertos this season — in your home or with our studio community — as a way to help your little ones understand that love, like life, is beautifully ongoing.
💛 Feliz Día de los Muertos, from your Mi Casa Es Tu Casa family.
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What is Mi Casa Es Tu Casa®?
Founded in 2017 by Laura Bruce, a mom with a degree in clinical psychology, Mi Casa Es Tu Casa®’s program has touched over 5 thousand families over the years near and far!
On the surface, we are a Spanish immersion music program for families with babies 0-4. We use our own, high-quality (Latin Grammy-nominated) music along with movement, sign language, and props to build community and develop the whole child.
Look a little deeper and you’ll find that Mi Casa Es Tu Casa®’s program is fueled by our mission to eradicate childhood trauma.
We know that the only way to do this is to wholeheartedly support mothers and caregivers in the process of creating a healthy environment full of love and respect where children can develop their own sense of self.
You can learn more about how to join us in person in Austin, TX or from your own home here
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