Papel picado is a decoration made from colorful tissue paper. We'll decorate our classroom and hallway with your examples when they're finished. People in Mexico and Central America use papel picado for celebrations like Día de muertos, birthdays, and other special events. Common designs include:
We'll watch a couple of videos to get us started:
* Intro to "Coco"
* Design examples
Before cutting your papel picado, sketch your design on the back of this paper. Think about what symbols, shapes, and patterns you want to include. You can use common elements or create your own meaningful symbols. Be sure to draw in a way that pieces of paper are connected. If you want to do a face, for example, leave some paper connected to the parts of the face, or you will just have a big hole in the paper.
After drawing your design, you will use scissors to carefully cut out the shapes from tissue paper. Cut out your designs and glue your papel picado to our streamers.
Also on the back of this sheet, write a paragraph explaining why you chose your design. What do the symbols and shapes mean to you? Why do you think they are important? You can write your paragraph in English.