• 60 prompts
  • Checked October 2026

Day of the Dead Writing Prompts

The altar and what goes on it, a visitor for one night, bread and marigolds, a story to keep.

Day of the Dead Writing Prompts

Show all 60
  1. On Day of the Dead a great-grandmother visits for one night; write what she checks on first.Angle: the kitchen, the garden, or whether anyone learned her recipe.
  2. For Day of the Dead, introduce yourself in a letter to an ancestor you know only by name.First line: You do not know me, but I am told I have your chin.
  3. Two ancestors who never met each other arrive at the same ofrenda; write their introduction.Angle: they work out how they are related by comparing noses.

Next step Draw an ofrendaDraw a family tree

All 60 prompts

An ofrenda 15

  • A candle on the ofrenda keeps flickering though no window is open; write what the family decides it means. Angle: keep it warm, not spooky. Somebody smiles.
  • A child builds a first ofrenda in a shoebox for Day of the Dead; write what goes in and why. Angle: three small things, each standing for something the person loved.
  • A grandparent and a child set up the ofrenda together; write what they say. Angle: the child asks why each thing goes where it goes.
  • A school library sets up a Day of the Dead ofrenda; write the note a student leaves beside it. Fact: ofrendas are set up at home and in public places such as schools and libraries.
  • Describe a Day of the Dead ofrenda from the top tier to the bottom, as someone seeing one for the first time. Fact: a common ofrenda has three tiers, with photos of the person on the top one.
  • Describe papel picado moving above an ofrenda when someone opens the door. Fact: papel picado is tissue paper cut with designs; on an ofrenda it stands for air.
  • Everyone wants a different photograph on the family ofrenda; write the choosing. Angle: each relative argues for theirs with a story.
  • List everything on one Day of the Dead ofrenda, then tell the story behind the oddest item. Fact: an ofrenda holds the person's favorite foods and drinks, photos and keepsakes.
  • On Day of the Dead a mirror, soap and a towel wait by the ofrenda; write who they are for. Fact: some ofrendas include a washbasin, mirror, soap and towel so the visitor can freshen up.
  • One family builds its ofrenda a little differently from the neighbors; write why. Fact: Day of the Dead customs are not the same everywhere and often vary from town to town.
  • One object on the ofrenda makes every visitor ask a question; tell its story. Angle: a harmonica, a chess piece, a single glove. Someone knows why.
  • Turn the ofrenda into a poem of things: one line for each object on it. Angle: let the objects do the remembering.
  • Write about putting the ofrenda away when Day of the Dead is over, and the one thing that stays out. Angle: say who cannot bring themselves to put it back in the box.
  • Write about the glass of water on the ofrenda, from the point of view of whoever fills it. Fact: water is left out because the journey back is thought to be a long, thirsty one.
  • Write the lighting of the candles on the ofrenda as night falls on November 1. Fact: the bottom tier of an ofrenda almost always holds lit candles.

A visit from an ancestor 15

  • A great-grandfather visiting on Day of the Dead wants to hear the music his family plays now; write it. Angle: he has opinions, and then he taps his foot.
  • A great-uncle visits on Day of the Dead and finds his favorite dish made slightly wrong; write his review. Angle: he is touched, and he also has notes.
  • A visiting ancestor looks through the family's photographs on Day of the Dead; write what surprises her. Angle: whose face she recognizes in a child she never met.
  • An ancestor follows the path of marigold petals home for Day of the Dead; write the walk. Fact: marigold petals are spread in a path, and their scent is thought to guide the way.
  • An ancestor visits for Day of the Dead and only the family dog notices; tell it as the dog. First line: Someone was in Grandpa's chair, and I was glad.
  • An ancestor visits on Day of the Dead and meets the baby who was named after her; write the meeting. Fact: at the graveside, a baby may be presented to a grandparent it never met.
  • An ancestor who has never seen a telephone visits on the night of November 2; write the visit. First line: He picked it up, turned it over and asked where the rest of it was.
  • The family has moved house since her time; write how an ancestor finds the new door on Day of the Dead. Angle: she follows the candles, the smell of bread, one familiar song.
  • In this Day of the Dead visit the ancestor says nothing, and the family still knows she came; write it. Angle: something small has moved: a chair, a spoon, a petal.
  • On Day of the Dead a great-grandmother visits for one night; write what she checks on first. Angle: the kitchen, the garden, or whether anyone learned her recipe.
  • Two ancestors who never met each other arrive at the same ofrenda; write their introduction. Angle: they work out how they are related by comparing noses.
  • What story would an ancestor tell if given five minutes at the Day of the Dead table? Write it. Angle: not a lesson. A funny thing that happened with a goat.
  • Write about the pillow and blanket set out for an ancestor on Day of the Dead, and the morning after. Fact: pillows and blankets wait for the visitor to rest after the long journey.
  • Write Day of the Dead from the visitor's side: an ancestor arriving at an ofrenda made for them. Fact: the ofrenda is meant to welcome the person and make them feel at home.
  • Write the goodbye at the end of Day of the Dead as an ancestor's thank-you to the family. First line: You remembered the cinnamon. Nobody ever remembers the cinnamon.

The food and the flowers 15

  • A child is told not to touch the food on the ofrenda yet; write the hour of waiting. Angle: it smells of chocolate and it is right there.
  • A sugar skull is made with a living friend's name on the forehead; write the moment it is handed over. Fact: sugar skulls carry the name of whoever receives them and are given to the living too.
  • Candied pumpkin cooks slowly while the family builds the ofrenda in the next room; write the afternoon. Fact: candied pumpkin is one of the foods families set on a home ofrenda.
  • Compare the flowers on the ofrenda on the first evening and at the end of Day of the Dead. Angle: what has dropped, what has dried, what still has its scent.
  • Decorate a sugar skull in words: every color and line you would add, and who it is for. Fact: the bright designs on a sugar skull stand for the liveliness and character of the person.
  • Describe one Day of the Dead marigold so closely that a reader could pick it out of a bucketful. Fact: the name cempasúchil comes from a Nahuatl word meaning twenty flowers.
  • Describe pan de muerto for someone who has never seen it, from the sugar on top to the first bite. Fact: pan de muerto is a sweet, bun-shaped bread with sugar and bone-shaped pieces on top.
  • List the smells of a house on the first evening of Day of the Dead, then follow one to its source. Angle: bread, wax, flowers, something frying.
  • Tamales are made for Day of the Dead and one is set aside; write who it is for. Fact: tamales are among the most common dishes of the day, for the living and for the ofrenda.
  • Whose recipe for the Day of the Dead bread is the right one? Write the family argument. Angle: two aunts, one oven, and a grandmother who wrote nothing down.
  • Write a cup of warm atole into a cold evening of Day of the Dead: who holds it and what they wait for. Fact: atole is a warm, thick drink made from masa.
  • Write a picnic at the graveside on Day of the Dead, with the dishes named and the stories told. Fact: in many places families picnic at the grave, and the stories told can be funny ones.
  • Write about buying marigolds at the market the day before Day of the Dead. Fact: the orange marigold called cempasúchil is thought to draw souls to the offering.
  • Write out a remembered person's favorite dish the way the recipe gets told aloud at Day of the Dead. Angle: leave the arguments in. A handful means her hand, not yours.
  • Write the morning a family bakes for Day of the Dead, told through smells alone. Angle: yeast, orange, sugar, the oven door opening.

A memory to keep 15

  • A relative once did something so funny that nobody can tell it with a straight face; write it for Day of the Dead. Fact: the day can take a humorous tone, as people recall amusing stories about the person.
  • A skeleton figure does something ordinary, as Day of the Dead decorations show them; write its day. Fact: skeleton figures for the day strum guitars, take baths or make tortillas.
  • Ask an older relative about someone they remember, and write their three best answers for Day of the Dead. Angle: ask what the person was like at your age.
  • Day of the Dead is for remembering: write about an object at home that belonged to someone before you. Angle: where it is kept, who uses it, and what it has outlasted.
  • Explain Day of the Dead to a reader who expects it to be sad: why a party is a way of remembering. Fact: the day is described as a joyful time for remembering people and celebrating them.
  • For Day of the Dead, introduce yourself in a letter to an ancestor you know only by name. First line: You do not know me, but I am told I have your chin.
  • For Day of the Dead, remember a person through one habit: how they laughed, whistled or cut bread. Angle: the smaller the habit, the more alive the person.
  • For Day of the Dead, trace a family saying back to the person who said it first. Angle: who said it, when, and who will say it next.
  • For Day of the Dead, write about a photograph of a relative you never met: what you see and what you were told. Angle: end with the question you would ask them.
  • For Day of the Dead, write down a story your family tells about someone who lived before you were born. Angle: find out who tells it best and use their words.
  • Tell your family tree as a Day of the Dead story: three generations, one sentence for each person. Angle: give every person one verb that was theirs.
  • Write a calavera literaria: a short, funny rhyme about a living friend, in the Day of the Dead tradition. Fact: calaveras literarias are light-hearted rhyming verses, written as mock epitaphs for friends.
  • Write a Day of the Dead page about a pet your family still talks about. Angle: its worst habit, its best trick and where it slept.
  • Write the night a town spends by candlelight in the cemetery on Day of the Dead, as a visitor sees it. Fact: in some towns in Mexico people spend the whole night beside their relatives' graves.
  • The youngest helper tells how the family cleans and decorates a grave for Day of the Dead; write it. Fact: most families tidy and decorate graves during the holiday.

How it works

A Day of the Dead writing prompt is only as good as the custom in it, so the lines marked Fact follow Wikipedia, UNESCO and National Geographic Kids. The families and the visiting ancestors are for the writer to invent.

Read the full guide

What goes on an ofrenda

An ofrenda is the offering set out on a home altar to welcome someone who has died. A common one has three tiers: photos on top, favorite foods in the middle, lit candles at the bottom. The prompts take one thing at a time: the photograph everyone argues over, the glass of water, the cut paper that stirs when a door opens.

If your family does not keep the day

Write as a careful guest. Keep the marigolds, the bread and the candles as the sources give them, and invent only the people. Customs differ from town to town, so one family's altar in a story need not match another's.

  • Start with one object on the altar and let it lead you to the person.
  • Keep it warm. The visitors in these prompts are relatives, not ghosts.

Questions and answers

When is Day of the Dead?

Traditionally November 1 and 2, in Mexico and where people of Mexican heritage live. Depending on the place, October 31, November 6 or other days may be added.

What is a good Day of the Dead writing prompt?

One built on a real custom. An ancestor follows the path of marigold petals home; write the walk. Or decorate a sugar skull in words: every color and line you would add, and who it is for.

Is Day of the Dead a sad holiday?

Not mainly. National Geographic Kids calls it a joyful time that helps people remember those who have died and celebrate their memory, and families tell funny stories about them. None of these prompts is frightening.

What is a calavera literaria?

A short poem in rhyme, light-hearted and mocking, written as a pretend epitaph for a friend, a classmate or a relative. In Mexico's public schools students write them in language class. One prompt here asks for one.

More tools

Show 8 more

Browse Writing Prompts