Semana Santa Activities

Semana Santa activities are a great way to celebrate the season wherever you are, from the beautiful alfombras of Antigua Guatemala to the intricate floats made for processions. On this page, you'll find instructions on how to make your own alfombra as well as Guatemalan Holy Week coloring pages and activities.

This first activity is actually fairly simple and you can either make your own stencils or use store bought ones. Making your own will involve tracing your design onto cardboard (cereal boxes work well) and then cutting out the design with spaces between the elements. Very complicated designs may need more than one stencil which can be laid out on top of the previous one.

Make Your Own Alfombra

Supplies you'll need:

Sawdust

Powdered tempura paints

Stencils

Boards

Instructions:

Dye the sawdust by separating it into several different containers, one for each color.

Mix 1/2 cup tempura powder with 1 cup water and pour into a container. It's a good idea to protect your hands if you're mixing by hand.

Mix the sawdust until thoroughly colored. Let it sit 30-60 minutes, then mix again to distribute the color evenly.

Spread out on a piece of plastic to dry. Repeat for all the colors.

Once the sawdust is dry, break any clumps up and pour into containers.

Now, mark off the area to make your alfombra with the boards.

Sprinkle the base color first and tamp it down with a shorter board. This should be nice and even to create a surface that is easy to work on.

Next, lay out your stencils and add color by patting colored sawdust into the spaces.

Lift the stencil out carefully to avoid sprinkling anything on the other areas of the alfombra.

Repeat with each section.

Don't forget to take pictures!

Holy Week Coloring Pages

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Other Popular Spanish Christmas Carols:

List of all Spanish Christmas Carols

Jingle Bells in Spanish

Away in a Manger in Spanish

Silent Night in Spanish

More Guatemala Holiday Resources: