Hello and welcome to Virtual Kids Create! This is a self-paced version of the monthly kids day we host at the Poetry Center, and includes age-appropriate language arts workshops for children from infancy to ten-years-old, developed by our incredible facilitators. October's theme is Día de Muertos and the activities--from read- and sing-a-longs to a poetry exercise about your own name--reflect this! Feel free to use this as a guide to create your own, at-home, structured Kids Create, or pick and choose activities you think the kids in your household might enjoy.
Infant to 3-year-old read-a-loud & sing-a-long:
In this video, Kathy Sutton reads three books: I Remember Abuelito: A Day of the Dead Story; Clatter Bash!: A Day of the Dead Celebration and The Name Quilt:
When you're done, enjoy this bilingual (English & Spanish) sing-a-long with musician and teacher Gabrielle Pietrangelo:
4-6-year-old writing workshop: Let Us Honor the Caterpillar: An Altar-Making Activity
"Sometimes things have endings. / But not all endings are bad. / Sometimes the caterpillar is finished being a caterpillar / and now gets to become a butterfly," writes Raquel Gutiérrez in this prompt, which celebrates the power of transitions and transformations. Participants are challenged to build an altar in honor of the caterpillar, and to practice literary forms like letter-writing and autobiography in a fun, accessible, age-appropriate way.
7-10-year-old writing Workshop: Día de Muertos Odes
Chalese "Chay the Poet" Potts invites children to explore Día de Muertos by reading about the holiday, creating calavera masks, and enjoying a clip from Academy Award-winning film Coco. The writing prompt portion of the activity encourages students to talk and write about someone or something they've lost, and to use the ode form to honor that person or thing.